2007-08 NCAA Champions

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jul 23, 2008

2007-08 NCAA Champions

Women's Swimming

With a win in the 400 freestyle relay, Arizona women's team capped a dominating performance in the NCAA Championships for their first national title. Runners up the previous year, the Wildcats won the 2008 crown by a 136-point margin over Auburn.<br><br>Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.

Men's Tennis

Senior co-captain Travis Helgeson came from a set behind to defeat Texas's Dimitar Kutrovsky 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and clinch the Bulldogs' second consecutive NCAA title and sixth overall.

Football

Ohio State's top-ranked defense couldn't stop the Tigers, who outscored the Buckeyes 21-0 during the pivotal second quarter of the BCS National Championship Game. LSU took advantage of Ohio State's mistakes, returning two interceptions for touchdowns in the 38-24 win.

Men's Water Polo

No school outside of California has ever won this championship, and that didn't change last season as the Golden Bears won their 11th NCAA championship. Senior Michael Sharf, Cal's leading scorer, was kept quiet in the title game, but Adam Haley and Zac Monsees picked up the slack, each contributing two goals in the 8-6 win over USC.

Baseball

The underdogs became ''Top Dogs'' as Fresno State beat Georgia 6-1 in the decisive third game of the College World Series. The unranked Bulldogs were the lowest seed ever to win the CWS. Sophomore Steve Detwiler (top) homered twice, driving in all six of the Bulldogs' runs, and was named the Most Outstanding Player.

Women's Lacrosse

For the fourth straight year the Wildcats were the queens of women's lacrosse, taking home the title with a 10-6 victory over Penn. The victory avenged an 11-7 defeat to the Quakers on April 27, the only loss all season for the 21-1 Wildcats.

Men's Basketball

It really isn't over 'tll it's over. With 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation of the championship game, Kansas guard Mario Chalmers nailed a three pointer to force overtime against Memphis. The Jayhawks then outscored the Tigers 12-5 to win their third NCAA title.

Men's Hockey

With two goals and two assists, Nathan Gerbe, the nation's leading scorer, led Boston College to a 4-1 victory over Notre Dame in the championship game. Gerber had five goals and three assists in the Frozen Four.

Men's Soccer

The top-seeded Demon Deacons pulled off a come-from-behind victory over Ohio State in Cary, N.C., getting two second half goals to win title 2-1. Sophomore Zack Schilawski netted his fifth game-winner in front of a hometown crowd when he buried a cross in the 74th minute.

Women's Outdoor track and field

Entering the final event of the meet, LSU and Arizona State were tied for the team lead. But the Tigers got eight points for finishing second in the 1,600-meter relay, while ASU came home fifth. It marked the 14th women's outdoor title in LSU history.

Football (I-AA)

It was a memorable season from beginning to end for the Mountaineers. Their 34-32 upset of Michigan in Week 1 got them on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and their 49-21 drubbing of Delaware earned them a third-straight national title. Running back Kevin Richardson helped lead the way with 118 yards in the championship game.

Women's Basketball

A bruised and banged up Candace Parker scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Tennessee capture its eighth title with a 64-48 victory over Stanford. The Vols are the first repeat champs since Connecticut won three straight from 2002 to 2004.

Women's Soccer

The second-seeded Trojans, led by national team member Amy Rodriguez, won their first national championship with a 2-0 win over Florida State. Rodriguez had two second-half goals in the semifinal and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

Softball

Junior Kaitlin Cochran hit a three-run homer to help the Sun Devils claim their first softball championship in an 11-0 win over Texas A&M. The victory was the largest margin of victory in a shutout in a women's CWS clincher.

Skiing

Junior John Buchar won the men's slalom for his second individual national title, helping the Pioneers claim their 19th team championship. Buchar's sweep of the slalom and giant slalom marked the second time that a Denver University skier won both events at the NCAA Championships. On the women's side, junior Jenny Lathrop's third-place finish in the giant slalom contributed to the team's winning score.

Women's Volleyball

Stanford took the top-ranked Nittany Lions to five games in the title match, but Penn State won seven straight points in the deciding game to take the national title. During that critical run, junior Christa Harmotto and sophomore Alisha Glass each registered two kills. Sophomore Megan Hodge led the team with 26.

Women's Cross-country

Running the entire season as the top-ranked team in the nation, Stanford claimed its third straight NCAA title and fourth in five years. Led by senior Arianna Lamble, who placed ninth out of 253 runners in the field, the Cardinal beat out second-place Oregon by 32 points.

Rowing

The only crew to place in the top three in every NCAA Championship, Brown defended its 2007 title by rowing to victory again, this time at Lake Natoma, in California. Brown has now won six NCAA rowing team titles.

Women's Gymnastics

Can you say four-peat? The Gym Dogs won their fourth straight national title with a 197.450 score in Palo Alto and are tied with Utah with nine overall.

Men's Swimming

A week after the Arizona women earned the school's first NCAA swimming championship, the guys matched the feat. The Wildcats topped second-place Texas by 94 points and knocked off five-time defending champ Auburn, which finished fifth, by a whopping 184 points.

Wrestling

Led by Brent Metcalf (bottom) top-ranked Iowa clinched its 21st national title and its first since 2000. During the championships the Hawkeyes crowned seven All-Americas.

Men's Golf

Senior Kevin Chappell made par on the 18th hole and finished at 2-under 286, giving UCLA a one-shot victory and it's first men's golf national title since 1988. Chappell also won the individual title.

Men's Gymnastics

With clutch performances on the rings from co-captains Taqiy Abdullah Simmons and Jonathan Horton, the Sooners won their eighth championship with a 363.200-362.750 victory over Stanford. The win gave the gymnastics team the most titles of any Sooners athletic program.

Women's Hockey

One year after falling to Wisconsin 4-1 in the 2007 championship game, Minnesota-Duluth won it's first title in eight years and first since 2003. Goalie Kim Martin stopped 28 shots to lead the Bulldogs past Wisconsin 4-0.

Men's Lacrosse

Junior midfielder Dan Hardy scored a team-high three goals as the the Orange claimed its record 10th NCAA title with a 13-10 win over Johns Hopkins.

Rifle

Trailing Army by six points heading into the final day of competition, Alaska Fairbanks shot an air gun score of 2,350 to surpass the Black Knights and win its 10th NCAA Championship.

Women's Tennis

Senior Riza Zalameda rallied from a set down to defeat Cal's Susie Babos 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the first-ever NCAA Championship for the UCLA women's tennis team. The Bruins had a 4-0 victory over the No. 8 Golden Bears in the final.

Men's Indoor track and field

Led by distance runner Kyle Alcorn, who won the 3,000 meters and scored 44 total points, Arizona State edged Florida State for the team's second title in the sport.

Men's Outdoor track and field

Senior Walter Dix won his third consecutive 200-meter title, topping LSU's Richard Thompson in 20.40 seconds, to help lead the Seminoles to their third straight crown at the outdoor championships.

Women's Indoor track and field

Jacquelyn Johnson scored 4,496 points to become the first three-time winner of the indoor pentathlon as ASU won its second straight indoor title.

Men's Volleyball

Led by senior setter Luke Murray the top-ranked Nittany Lions won their second national championship with a four-game win over No. 2 Pepperdine. Penn State became only the second school in NCAA history to have its women's and men's teams grab the title in the same school year. Stanford accomplished the feat in 1996-97.

Fencing

Junior Jason Pryor's (shown here with teammate Mikhail Momtselidze) 5-3 win in Epee against Notre Dame helped lead Ohio State to its third national fencing crown.

Men's Cross-country

Top-ranked Oregon won its fifth national title and first since 1977 behind a strong performance by junior Galen Rupp. His second-place time of 29:24 trailed Liberty's Josh McDougal by just one second and was the best by a Duck at Nationals since Alberto Salazar in 1979.

Women's Golf

USC won its second NCAA title after finishing with its lowest ever championship total at 16-over 1168, beating out cross-town rival UCLA (1174) and three-time defending national champion Duke (1180). Belen Mozo was USC's high finisher, in fourth at 2-over 290.

Bowling

Runners up a year ago, Maryland Eastern Shore defeated Arkansas State 4-2 to win the 2008 crown. The title is the first NCAA championship in the school's history.

Field hockey

The Tar Heels stormed through the regular season undefeated, becoming just the fifth team in Division I history to accomplish perfection. In the title game, Carolina earned its fifth national title by defeating Penn State 3-0. Freshman Katelyn Falgowski, senior Rachel Dawson and sophomore Danielle Forword each scored.

Women's Water Polo

UCLA beat rival USC 6-3 for its fourth consecutive NCAA championship and its 101st overall national title. The Bruins, who finished the season undefeated (33-0), were led by seniors Jillian Kraus, Kamaile Crowell, Gabrielle Domanic, Courtney Mathewson and Brittany Rowe, who finished their careers with a 123-6 overall record and became the first UCLA women to win four national championships.