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UC Davis Cross Country Newsletter Running news from Aggie Nation
UC UCDavis DavisXC/Track XC/Track&&Field Field- -November February 2010 2009
Meet update Aggies compete at Bronco Invite and Doc Adams Open.
Conference results Find out the final tallies for the Big West conference championships
Harrier Club Become a Harrier Club member and support Aggie Cross Country Nation.
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Athlete blog Check out the thoughts running through a champion mindset in advance of a trip to the conference meet. Page 3
Big West Champs! UC Riverside’s Agricultural Operations Cross Country Course provided the backdrop for UC Davis’ first team title as a member of the Big West Conference. Entering the meet confident but aware that the parity in the conference could lead any of several teams to the podium, the Aggies demonstrated a patient and measured approach to the race, which took place under wet and slippery conditions after steady rain on race morning. While a head-to-head battle emerged up front between Riverside’s Chad Hall and Jon Peterson, an Aggie Pack of Axel Stanovsky, Fed Martinez and Calvin Thigpen was spearheaded by Jon Sees. As the race unfolded, teams could be seen forming packs of their own while UCR’s men exacted an aggressive and gutsy race strategy. The ensuing team battles saw the Aggies, UCSB and Long Beach State gain ground on Riverside, while at the head of the race Peterson waited until the mile 4 mark before moving definitively to the lead. After pulling away for a UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine vincimus.
17-second win in 23:40, Peterson turned to see teammates Thigpen and Sees finish in 3rd and 6th places, respectively. As runners streamed across the finish, the Aggies got their back door across with Matt Sartori in 33rd place, trailing 4th man Axel Stanovsky, who finished in 21st. The moments between race’s end and the announcement of the official scores provided some tense waiting, but in the end UCD had done just enough to seal a 2-point victory, with the top four teams separated by a mere 12 points. Attention now turns to the West Regional Meet on November 13, where the Aggies look to tighten up their pack and attempt to sneak deep in the top ten, uncharted territory up until this point. Further coverage of the conference race can be found on the Aggies’ web site and on the cross country page bigwest.org.
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Big West men’s team scores: UC Davis 64; UC Riverside 66; UC Santa Barbara 70; Cal State Long Beach 76; Cal Poly 90; UC Irvine 119; Cal State Fullerton 199; Cal State Northridge 248 Big West Athlete of the Year - Jonathan Peterson Big West women’s team scores: UC Santa Barbara 35; Cal Poly 37; Cal State Long Beach 72; UC Riverside 117; UC Davis 144; UC Irvine 149; Cal State Fullerton 154; Cal State Northridge 207; University of the Pacific 290
Meet Updates Aggie women at Biggest little meet in the West conference Support Aggie Nation! Name: Address: The running tally now stands at 16% of the way to our goal of 100 donors at $100 or more City: through the Harriers Club program, while the State: Zip Code: funds themselves total 35% percent of our $10,000 target. We remain excited to offer all Phone: $100 donors something in return for their E-mail: choice to support our efforts continue to enjoy a pre-season camp, provide a post-season banquet with team awards, and search for ways to improve the student-athlete MARK YOUR DONATION LEVEL experience. Frontrunner ($700 & UP) Pacesetter The Harrier Club($400-$699) PDF can be downloaded by Packand runner ($200-$399) cutting pasting the following URL in your Harrier web browser: ($100-$199)
http://www.teamaggie.com/downloads/ Harriers-club-2010-11.pdf Affiliation: Alum Relative icon Friend You can alsoParent click the hyperlink on the UC Davis cross country homepage at www.ucdavisaggies.com T-Shirt: XXL XL Lto pledge M online. S (check one) Sweatshirt: XXL XL L M S (check one) Decline all benefits DIRECT MY DONATION TO: MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY - !"#$%&'
http://ica.ucdavis.edu/DEVP/giving/mcrosscountry_upay_form.php WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY - !"#$(&'
http://ica.ucdavis.edu/DEVP/giving/wcrosscountry_upay_form.php PLEASE MAKE ALL CHECKS PAYABLE TO “UC REGENTS” DETACH MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION AND MAIL TO: Kim Conley UC Davis Country Senior Ali Stoakley atCross the Hornet 264 Hickey Gym Jamboree One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616 2 kfconley@ucdavis.edu
Aggies send full squads to Santa Clara Bronco Invite.
Aggies women secure 5th place finish at Big West Conference meet.
Men face stiff competition
Rain in the Southland
Southland power Lamar University and DII juggernaut Chico State both targeted the 2010 Bronco Invite and provided a hard-fought race up front for the Aggie men. The Aggies still managed to get five runners under 25 minutes, with a sixth just seconds from that time en route to a third-place team finish.
Steady rain throughout the morning on race day made for some interesting conditions for the women’s 6000m competition, although the skies had begun to clear by the time the gun went off at 8:45.
After sitting comfortably in the pack for four miles, Jon Peterson took over the lead and then set a course record of 23:45 for the individual win. Jon Sees, Calvin Thigpen, Grayson Hough and Fed Martinez followed Peterson to the line to round out the scoring for the Aggies. Conference and regional foes abound The women were paced by Caitlin Fitzgerald for the first time in the 2010 season. He 5k cross country PR of 17:26 was good for 14th place. Sarah Tusting led the pack of Aggie women on Fitzgerald’s heels, while Krista Drechsler, Abbey Gallaher and Alycia Cridebring provided the remaining elements of the scoring five. In the team tally, UCD saw conference rival Long Beach State take top honors while the Aggies claimed fifth place.
Running without 2009 individual champ Sarah Sumpter, the women still presented an impressive blend of veteran and new talent in their nine-person lineup. The conditions proved little hindrance to fast times, as the lead pack went out hard and kept the pace honest up front, and eventual winner Amanda Moreno of UCSB ended up with a course record. The Aggies were paced by Krista Drechsler in 14th place and Caitlin Fitzgerald in 17th place. Behind the two frontrunners the Aggies placed the remainder of their scorers in 36-42nd place, tightly packed but too far back to sneak into the top three teams. Alycia Cridebring, Sarah Tusting and Sam Kearney rounded out the top five at race’s end, and the Aggie women will aim to get their whole pack forward in the race at the West Regional meet in Eugene as they look to leapfrog conference and regionals foes at the Sprigfield Country Club.
UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine vincimus.
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Athlete Blog Men’s team captain Jonathan Sees previewed the team's feelings entering the Big West Conference Championships and the desire to come home champions. It's strange to think that a week from now will mean that the first "half" of our season is coming to a head. From summer running on our own to heading out for camp in late August, all of our work has come to this. This is when our championship season starts. The Big West Conference Championship meet takes place on October 30 in Riverside, Calif. and the primary goal for this team is to win a conference title. UC Davis has been a member of the Big West Conference for three years now, and we have made noise and gotten into the mix, but it is time for us to set the tone and precedent that we are a force that will not go away. Our aim is to continue working harder and remain tougher than the rest; that is the way here in Davis.
UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine vincimus.
I am pretty excited to head down to Riverside. Not only am I ready for the opportunity to become the first UC Davis cross country team to become Big West champions, but also for the opportunity to enjoy traveling with my team. This team puts in work when it is called for, and a lot of our commitment and drive comes from the support of other teammates. We have all had days when the wheels just aren't turning right or when our head is somewhere else, but this is an unselfish team that does what it takes to make sure that we are always firing on all cylinders. These next few weeks are what we have all been pushing ourselves and each other for. We have chosen to stay close to home and compete against other West Region opponents, but it is time for us to be unleashed. We know how good we are and we have a real chance
to prove ourselves against teams with established records of accomplishment. But, we know this won't be as simple as showing up in Riverside and going for a tempo run to win. None of those teams are just going to lay down and give us the win. That is what I want though; I want to know that if we win a championship it will be against other teams working their hardest. I have never won a team championship in 15 years as a high school or collegiate student-athlete so I'm ready. I'm ready for my last two seasons (cross country and track and field) to bring titles, flags, banners, trophies, medals, ribbons, and whatever else comes with a conference championship back to Davis. Let's GO AGS!
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2010 UC Davis Cross Country Date
Opponent
Site/Result
Sept 4
Aggie Exhibition
Men 1st, Women 1st
Sept 11
Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree
Men 1st, Women 2nd
Sept 25
Stanford Invitational
Men 7th, Women 7th
Oct 16 Oct 30
Bronco Invitational
Men 3rd, Women 5th
Big West Conference Championship
Men 1st, Women 5th
Nov 6
Doc Adams Open
Men 3rd, Women No Score
Nov 13
NCAA West Regional
Springfield CC (Eugene, OR)
Nov 22
NCAA National Championhips
Terre Haute, IN
Aggie Nation, This fall marks a milestone for the current era of Aggie cross country. Following Sarah Sumpter’s individual title at the 2009 Big West meet, and coupled with Jon Peterson’s 2010 title, the Aggie men built a dream and provided the necessary commitment to achieve the program’s first team title since the transition to DI competition in the competitive Big West Conference. Here at home, we have stressed the importance of this accomplishment as one that not only reflects the efforts of the current team members, but also includes the cumulative energies of recent and not-sorecent runners that have donned the Aggie singlet. More than a men’s team victory, this is a win for the cross country/track & field program and for Aggie athletics. We hope it is not the only title from cross country and track during the 2010-11 year, and we look forward for more great things to follow. Thanks to all who have had a hand in the process. Go, Ags! Drew Wartenburg
2010 Cross Country Staff Byron Talley - Director of Cross Country & Track and Field Drew Wartenburg - Head Men’s and Women’s XC Kim Conley - Assistant Men’s and Women’s XC Sam Ahlbeck - Volunteer Assistant Men’s and Women’s XC
UC Davis Cross Country UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics 264 Hickey Gym One Shields Ave Davis, CA 95616
Head Cross Country/Assistant Track Coach University of California, Davis 530-979-7017 (c) dwartenburg@ucdavis.edu www.ucdavisaggies.com
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UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine vincimus.