U C D A V I S D I S T A N C E
Cross Country Newsletter November Newsletter
Aggie Medal Stand The donor program for Cross Country and Track has been launched! Pg. 2,3
Coaches added to Track Staff Marshall Ackley and John Tipton join the Aggies to coach jumps, multi’s, and throws. Pg. 4
Athlete Blog Freshman Trevor Halsted describes the challenges in adjusting to college academics and athletics. Pg. 5
Aggie Women are Big West Champions! Drechsler finished quickly after Taylor in 16th place, while sophomore Shannon Harcus came in 28th; senior captain Sam Kearney came in 40th with Lauren Wallace following in 44th. Sumpter’s time of 20:33 was 1 second faster than her winning time in 2009 went she captured the individual conference title. Cridebring’s time of 20:53 was a 1:09 faster than her 2010 mark of 22:02. The Aggie men finished 6th overall, led by Jon Peterson’s 5th place finish. Senior Axel Stanovsky crossed the line in 28th place. The scoring runners were rounded out by sophomore Nathan Strum in 36th, freshman Trevor Halstead in 49th, and sophomore Grayson Hough in 57th.
Sumpter leads women with second place finish
On Saturday, October 29th the Aggie women made history as they brought home their first ever Big West conference title. Three women finished on the podium with top ten finishes. Sarah Sumpter led the way with her second place finish overall, followed by sophomore Alycia Cridebring in 8th place, and redshirt freshman Kristine Lozoya in 10th place. The scoring runners were rounded out by freshman Katie Fry in 13th place and senior Kristina Taylor in 14th place to give the Aggies a total of 47 points, over Long Beach State’s 61 points and UC Santa Barbara’s 62 points. Senior Krista
UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine Vincimus
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U C D A V I S D I S T A N C E
Aggie Medal Stand Previously known as the Harrier Club, the Aggie Medal Stand in an all encompassing program designed to boost the support of alumni, family, boosters, and the UC Davis community at large to both the Cross Country and Track and Field programs. The 2011-‐2012 cross country season has already yielded some great results, and the members of the track and field team have been hard at work as they prepare for the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons. Donations to the Aggie Medal Stand will immediately impact student-‐athletes in the upcoming year, and in return donors can enjoy the benefits that correspond with the level of their donation. Please follow the links below or print and mail the brochure on page 3 of the newsletter to learn more about the program and make a donation. Thanks in advance for your support and Go, Ags! Men’s Cross Country Women’s Cross Country Men’s Track and Field Women’s Track and Field
Aggie Women 6th at Pre-‐Nationals The Aggie women had a good showing at the Pre-‐Nationals meet hosted by Indiana State University on October 16th. The Ags finished 6th out of 37 teams from across the nation. Sarah Sumpter led the way with her 25th place finish, followed closely by teammate Krista Drechsler who finished 29th. The scoring squad was rounded out by sophomore Alycia Cridebring in 36th, redshirt freshman Kristine Lozoya in 57th, and freshman Katie Fry in 80th. Seniors Kristina Taylor and Sam Kearney completed the Aggies’ effort with their 90th and 121st place finishes, respectively. In the men’s race senior John Peterson hung with the lead pack from the gun and eventually crossed the line in 11th place. He led the Aggie men to a 25th place showing.
Aggies Compete at Bronco Invite
While the top seven athletes on each team were in Indiana for the Pre-‐Nats invitational, the rest of the Aggies traveled to Santa Clara, CA for the Bronco Invite. In the women’s race sophomore Shannon Harcus led the Aggie contingent with her 36th place finish. Shannon covered the 5k course in 17:57, breaking 18 minutes for the first time ever. Shannon was followed by teammate Lauren Wallace who finished 65th in 18:16 and freshman Rocki Lambdin who finished 78th in 18:21. Next across the line were Hilary Teaford and Melinda Zavala who finished 18:45 and 18:47. The Aggie contingent was rounded out by Nicole Aha, Abbey Gallaher, and Kristin Arkin, who finished in 19:19, 19:22, and 19:32, respectively. On the men’s side, freshman Joseph Rivera was the first of three Aggie men in the race. He covered the 8k course in 26:10 to finish in 124th place. Freshman Trevor Ehlenbach followed in 27:01 ton finish 151st, and Diego Escobar came in at 27:47 and 160th place.
UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine Vincimus
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The UC Davis Aggie Cross Country/Track & Field program has rich and deep roots both on and off the track. Dating back to the early days of UC Davis, we have called the corner of Russell and A Streets home, and today Toomey Field and Woody Wilson Track bear the names of two of the cornerstones of our program, while we also now have a dedicated cross country course on the far west boundary of campus. After many years of success on the conference, regional and national levels, 2007 marked a definitive transition point between the Division II and Division I eras for all athletic teams at UC Davis. While one of the goals of the past several years has been to preserve the core identity of Aggie XC/T&F, our conference affiliation, traditional rivals and certain aspects of the program have changed even as the essence of the excellence that we pursue remains constant. Over the years, Aggie coaches, student-athletes and alum have represented UC Davis locally, across the country and around the world at the collegiate, club, professional and US National Team levels. We take great pride in the program’s role in shaping of excellent scholars, athletes and contributing members of the UC and global communities. The 2011-2012 cross country season has already yielded good results on both the men’s and women’s sides, and the members of the track & field team are also hard at work preparing for the women’s indoor campaign and the outdoor season that follows. This year, for the first time, we are adopting a unified approach to allow the UC Davis community as well as our alumni, parents and boosters to donate directly to the program, where the benefit will be felt immediately by the student-athletes. Many of the hallmarks of our program - Pt Reyes cross country camp, all team awards and banquets, travel to US championship events, any travel and recruitment of prospective athletes outside the bounds of our operating budget and portions of some coaching salaries all remain items paid for from our fundraising efforts. Join us and help the Aggies achieve their goals and enjoy the benefits from participation at the corresponding level. Thanks in advance for your support and Go, Ags!
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DIRECT MY DONATION TO: MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY - SPTDMXE
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PLEASE MAKE ALL CHECKS PAYABLE TO “UC REGENTS” DETACH MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION AND MAIL TO: Kim Conley UC Davis Cross Country 264 Hickey Gym One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616 kfconley@ucdavis.edu
U C D A V I S D I S T A N C E
Aggies Welcome Marshall Ackley and Jonathan Tipton to Track and Field Staff By Amanda Piechowski Marshall Ackley, most recently a coach at the University of Oregon, and Jonathan Tipton from Sam Houston State in Texas, have joined the UC Davis track program as assistant coaches, it was announced Thursday by Drew Wartenburg, director of track and field and cross country. Ackley will oversee the pole vaulters, multi-‐event s pecialists and jumps crew while Tipton will direct the throwers. They'll join a staff that was enhanced earlier this fall with the addition of Devin Elizondo who is a volunteer coach helping with the distance group as well as the cross country teams. "I'm very pleased to complete o ur coaching staff with these latest additions," Wartenburg said. "They bring a blend of competitive and coaching experience, expertise and enthusiasm to help us continue in building our program in the Big West Conference, west region and on the national stage." Ackley was a member of the powerhouse Oregon program from 2006-‐2010, helping lead the Ducks to four Pac-‐10 Conference championships while earning All-‐America honors in 2009 when he finished 12th in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships. He earned three all-‐conference honors in the event and one in the 400-‐meter hurdles. He s erved this past season as a volunteer coach under renowned multi-‐events coach Harry Marra, an assistant at Oregon and now a coach with Oregon Track Club Elite. Marshall has also been an assistant coach and training partner to Ashton Eaton, the world record holder in the heptathlon. Ackley earned his undergraduate degree in history from Oregon. Tipton, who received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in kinesiology from Sam Houston State, was a graduate assistant at his alma mater for the past two years. In his role he developed, organized and implemented training programs for the team's throwers. As an accomplished student-‐athlete for the Bearkats, he enjoyed a standout senior season in 2010 b y winning the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship in the discus and qualifying for the national finals. Tipton was Sam Houston State's team MVP as a senior, finished in the top 10 at the USATF Championships and currently has a career-‐best discus throw of 60.37 meters. He was also an NCAA Regional qualifier in the javelin. Elizondo has been assisting with the Aggies' cross country team as well as the track team's distance group this fall after serving as the head track and field coach at Brentwood School in Los Angeles for the past 10 years. H e was also an assistant coach with the high school's cross country squads. Elizondo spent his collegiate years as a member of the UCLA cross country and track & field program, where he served as a pivotal member of both teams. Elizondo also gained athletics experience through the LA84 Foundation, serving as a education services associate where he worked with youth teams in Southern California. He graduated from UCLA in 1998 with his degree in history.
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UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine Vincimus
U C D A V I S D I S T A N C E
Trevor Halsted As a lifelong resident of Davis, I anticipated that the move of a little over a mile from my home to my new dorm room would entail a relatively easy transition to life as a college student. However, after a month in school and two months since reporting to cross country practice, I realize now that the move across town to campus has left me far from my pre-‐college routine. Even before classes started, the schedule seemed b usy enough. Practice, strength and conditioning, core, visits to the training room, team meetings and various o ther activities with my new teammates gave me plenty to do without school in session. Then classes started and lectures, discussions, labs, and homework soon o ccupied the balance of time not spent with the team. However, besides a more hectic schedule and the novelty of large lecture halls, three-‐ hour chemistry labs, and meals at the DC, I am starting to recognize some more fundamental aspects of my transition to college. One simple but fundamental difference between college and high school that I did not fully appreciate until I got to UC Davis is that the tests are bigger in college. In class, exams are worth a greater percentage of the grade, and in cross country we have fewer races with more teams competing in them. While this may seem unimportant, I think it is an important aspect of the culture at school and on the team because the higher expectations demand a different mindset. With the end of the season fast approaching (and the end of the quarter not long after), it is becoming obvious that a poor showing in a race (or, similarly, a bad test in school) is simply not an option. Now that I'm more acclimated to the new college lifestyle, with a couple races and the first round of midterms already completed, I'm excited to gear up for the next big test: championship season. Thankfully, I can look up to my older teammates who have already experienced the conference and regional meets, as I've received indispensible advice from them all season. I'm looking forward to toeing the starting line b efore another big test, knowing that we, as a team, have made all the preparations to ace it.
UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine Vincimus
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U C D A V I S D I S T A N C E
2011 Cross Country Schedule
Aggie Open Hornet Jamboree Stanford Invite Bronco Invite NCAA Pre-‐Nationals Big West Conference Championships Doc Adams Open NCAA West Region Championships NCAA Championships
September 2nd
Women 1st; Men 1st
September 10th
Women 1st; Men 6th
September 24th
Women 2nd; Men 6th
October 15th
Women 14th ; Men DNS
October 16th
Women 6th; Men 25th
October 29th
Women 1st; Men 6th
November 5th
Davis, CA
November 12th
Palo Alto, CA
November 21st
Terre Haute, IN
Save the Date!
The 1st annual Alumni Reunion will be held on the afternoon of Saturday, March 31st Full invitation will follow at a later date
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UC Davis Distance: Fortitudine Vincimus