Kelley O'Hara
While most eyes were on the Heisman Trophy sweepstakes this weekend – more specifically on whether Cardinal running back TOBY GERHART would receive the ultimate college football honor – rumors were rampant that JIM HARBAUGH was being wooed by other football programs. But he insisted Saturday that he planned to remain head coach at Stanford. “I trust this puts an end to these rumors and reports, allowing the focus of fans and the media to shine a bright spotlight on Toby Gerhart today,” Harbaugh said in a statement to the Associated Press. Harbaugh’s news, which was further confirmed Sunday, was at least some consolation after Gerhart came in second to Alabama’s Mark Ingram for the Heisman in the closest vote in the trophy’s 75-year history . . . Meanwhile, a big prize is still possible for Cardinal soccer forward KELLEY O’HARA, who on Friday became the first Stanford player since JULIE FOUDY in 1992 to be named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s highest honor. O’Hara, a senior, and the other finalists – UCLA’s Lauren Cheney and North Carolina’s Tobin Heath – are scheduled to be in St. Louis for the award ceremony Jan. 8 . . . Also on Friday, O’Hara’s coach, PAUL RATCLIFFE, was named as the CaptainU Division I Women’s College Soccer Coach of the Year.
