October 20, 2017

Bryce Love

One of the great joys of returning to Stanford a year ago has been attending our sporting events and getting to know some of our outstanding student-athletes.  These dedicated students are all impressive, and some of the performances this fall have really stood out.

This last weekend, the stadium was just electric during our football win over the Oregon Ducks.  While the touchdown-scoring jack rabbit was an unusual highlight, I want to call out even more the amazing work of junior running back Bryce Love.  He is simply a joy to watch!  He ran for a school-record 301 yards against Arizona State on Sept. 30 and hasn’t let up since—he leads the nation in rushing.

Bryce is considered one of the favorites for the coveted Heisman Trophy, presented to the top college football player in the country.  I hope you will join in the athletics department’s recently unveiled #HeismanLove campaign to help spread the word about his accomplishments.  Bryce reached the 1,000-yard mark in the fifth game of the season — faster than anyone in the 123-year history of Stanford football. He has a rare combination of speed, power, acceleration and nimbleness, and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball.

Bryce joins a distinguished line of Stanford student-athletes in recent Heisman contention—Christian McCaffrey, Andrew Luck, Toby Gerhart.  He joins them in being impressive as a student as well.  Bryce is majoring in human biology and is an aspiring pediatrician. He does research with Dr. Michael Longaker at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and is also learning sign language to better communicate with children.

Also exceling this fall is senior Andi Sullivan of our highly-ranked Cardinal women’s soccer team. The 2016 Pac-12 Player of the Year and a two-time first team All-American, Andi has rebounded from a serious knee injury to spark the talented squad and is a national finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.

Senior forward Foster Langsdorf of the two-time defending NCAA champion men’s soccer team has also been a standout. He leads the Pac-12 in goals and points, and is the first Cardinal to score 30 or more goals in a career since 1985. Foster is majoring in management science and engineering, and is a men’s finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.

Sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Plummer has been a force for the defending NCAA champion women’s volleyball squad. Last year’s national freshman of the year recorded a career-high 27 kills against Penn State on Sept. 1 and leads the conference in several statistical categories.

We are proud of all our student-athletes for what they accomplish in their respective sports and in the classroom. They are unselfish, humble and true role models on behalf of Stanford. I personally look forward to following all of them, and hope you too will continue to show them your support.