2012-13 Milestones & Accomplishments
MARK HONBO
MARK HONBO
MARK HONBO
The 2013 Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame induction class: Jon Vochatzer (coach), Deanne Vochatzer (coach), Dave Roberts (football), Kari Sivesind Montero (basketball), Katherine O’Rourke Shroyer (water polo) and Robby Tulk (baseball). Not pictured: Louie Bishop (golf).
The 2012-13 student-athlete award winners: Demi Runas (golf), Corey Hawkins (basketball) and Mustafa Chopan (soccer), winners of the Heitman (top female athlete), Slater (top male athlete) and Lindley awards (scholar-athlete). Women’s golf and men’s cross country captured the Marya Welch and Lysle Leach team GPA awards, respectively.
Rolf Benirschke won the third Aggie Legacy Award for former student-athletes who have achieved outstanding postcollegiate athletics achievements. A soccer and football star in the 1970s, Benrischke enjoyed a record-setting kicking career for the San Diego Chargers. His battle and comeback from ulcerative colitis and ostomy surgery made him a national inspiration.
• The 2012-13 school year marked the first for new director of athletics Terrance J. “Terry” Tumey, who was announced during the previous July... Tumey, formerly the athletics director at Dominican University, had served on the San Francisco 49ers front office for almost a full decade... He took over for Nona Richardson, the executive senior associate athletics director, who in turn had guided the program for a year after Greg Warzecka retired in 2011.
tafa Chopan (soccer) captured the W.P. Lindley Award for the scholar-athlete of the year... Additionally, women’s golf and men’s cross country respectively won the Marya Welch and Lysle Leach team awards for compiling the top GPAs.
reaching the 800 final... Wallace, Marshall and Fry later joined Sarah Sumpter (10,000 meters) and Matthew Bender (junior discus) to form a UC Davis delegation at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
• Four teams captured the respective conference championships in 2012-13... Women’s swimming & diving was the first, outdueling an increasingly tough Mountain Pacific Sports Federation that now includes Hawai’i and Brigham Young... Women’s gymnastics closed out its record-breaking year with its fourth consecutive MPSF title... Women’s golf scored its fourth straight Big West Conference championship in dominating fashion, sweeping the top four individual places... Women’s track & field won nine events en route to repeating as Big West Conference champions.
• Swimmer Scott Weltz and distance runner Kim Conley represented UC Davis on the national stage, most notably at the London Olympics in August... Weltz placed fifth in the Olympic 200 breast final after posting a personal-best 2:08.99 in the semifinal round... He later finished 10th in that event at the 11th FINA World Championships in December and, more recently, placed 6th in the 100 breast at the Phillips 66 National Championships... Conley, who placed 12th in the 5,000 in London, finished second at the USA cross country championship... She went on to compete at the IAAF world cross country meet (March) and will represent the U.S. at the world track championships in August.
• The husband-and-wife team of Jon and Deanne Vochatzer highlighted another strong induction class to the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame... The beloved track & field coaches joined former student-athletes Louie Bishop (golf), Katherine O’Rourke Shroyer (water polo), Dave Roberts (football), Kari Sivesind Montero (basketball) and Robby Tulk (baseball) into the CAAHOF at the annual induction ceremony in June... Also honored at the banquet was Aggie Legacy Award winner Rolf Benirschke, the Aggie soccer/football standout turned NFL kicker, author and philanthropist... Jane Arp, wife of longtime assistant football coach Fred Arp, received the Special Recognition Award for volunteer contributions. • Along with the CAAHOF inductions, the June 1 banquet honored the annual student-athlete award winners... Corey Hawkins (basketball) captured the Colby E. “Babe” Slater Award as outstanding male athlete of the year, Demi Runas (golf) won the Hubert Heitman Award as the top female athlete, and Mus-
• Eight Aggie sports saw NCAA postseason action, including one team and four individuals who reached the national finals... Women’s golf finished 16th at the NCAA Championship, its best showing in three trips to the national tournament... Swimmer Liliana Alvarez qualified for the NCAA championship meet for her third straight year, although she was forced to withdraw from the meet due to illness... The trio of Lauren Wallace (800 meters), Ashley Marshall (100 meters) and Katie Fry (steeplechase) advanced from the West prelim meet to the NCAA outdoor championship at Oregon... All three earned All-America honors in the process, while Wallace picked up first-team distinction for
• ESPN2 aired a live telecast of the March 7 Big West Conference men’s basketball game between UC Davis and Long Beach State, marking the first home basketball to appear on national television... The Aggies fell in a 77-76 thriller to the firstplace 49ers, but the early-arriving crowd of 5,670 provided an unprecedented atmosphere in the Pavilion... “I’ve been to a lot of arenas and a lot of places, this building took a backseat to nobody tonight,” said head coach Jim Les after the game. 2012-13 UC Davis Athletics Year In Review • 15