Tag: White House

Duke women’s, Stanford men’s teams celebrate championships at White House

The Stanford men’s and Duke women’s golf teams celebrated their 2019 national championships at the White House with President Trump.

Before the Stanford men’s and Duke women’s golf teams break for the holidays, they traveled to the nation’s capital to celebrate their respective 2019 national championships.

The Blue Devils and the Cardinal were honored at the White House on Friday along with several other NCAA Championship teams from last year.

Duke won its seventh national title at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in May after defeating Wake Forest, 3-2, in match play. Stanford won its ninth title in program history with a 3-2 win in match play over Texas at Blessings.

According to the school, Duke has visited the White House three times, having also received invitations in 2005 and 2007 from President George W. Bush for having won the 2005, 2006 and 2007 NCAA titles under coach Dan Brooks.

Ahead of the White House ceremony on Friday, the teams posted photos from around Washington D.C. and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on their respective Twitter accounts.

Here are a few of the best photos:

WATCH: Nationals GM Mike Rizzo responds to backlash over White House visit

One week after the Washington Nationals visited the White House as honorees following their 2019 World Series Championship, team General Manager Mike Rizzo responded Monday to the backlash over the visit.

One week after the Washington Nationals visited the White House as honorees following their 2019 World Series Championship, team General Manager Mike Rizzo responded Monday to the backlash over the visit.

“We weren’t trying to make a political statement, whatsoever,’’ general manager Mike Rizzo told USA TODAY Sports in a wide-ranging conversation about the club’s crucial offseason. “We just thought that the honor and the tradition of champions being invited to the White House and the office of the president, and especially us being the hometown team in their backyard two miles away from the capital, is something that should be done.

“Obviously, each player could make their own decision whether they wanted to attend, but most of the players were excited by it.”

Most memorably, catcher Kurt Suzuki put on a “Make America Great Again,” hat when he took the podium and president Donald Trump hugged him from behind in response.

Rizzo said that the team was “damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” in regard to accepting the invitation from the president following the Nats’ first world championship, adding that he is a registered Independent and that he votes in every election for who he wants.

“The office of the president is something that we respect,” Rizzo said. ‘We felt we should be there. We also felt we should do it with everyone still in town there, or not do it at all.”

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo responds to backlash over White House visit

One week after the Washington Nationals visited the White House as honorees following their 2019 World Series Championship, team General Manager Mike Rizzo responded Monday to the backlash over the visit.

One week after the Washington Nationals visited the White House as honorees following their 2019 World Series Championship, team General Manager Mike Rizzo responded Monday to the backlash over the visit.