Sports

Who to watch: Kiara Reed ran her fastest 800 of her collegiate career last week in the Mathis Invitational.

Who to watch: In a season full of strong freshmen play, no first-years have had a larger presence than Anna Geissbuhler.

Who to watch: Lia D'Angelo has been the coxswain of her boat all season and often controls the rhythm and chemistry of her team's rowers.

Who to watch: Sophomore Ariel Feeney did all she could to help the Aggies in their 7-5 loss to Pacific last weekend.

Who to watch: Dahra Zamudio picked up the team's only individual win on Tuesday.

There's dominance and then there's Paige Mintun. The junior out of Valley Center, Calif. was rewarded for her stellar performance when she was named to the All-Big West Conference first team for the second consecutive year. "People might not know how difficult it is to win that award once, let alone twice in two years," said coach Sandy Simpson.

Not only is Katie Yamamura the first UC Davis freshman to break the 39-point barrier in the all-around, she is also the first Aggie to pass that mark more than once. After winning the floor exercise (9.750) and placing second both on balance beam (9.600) and in the all-around (38.575) in her college debut, Yamamura was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week for the first time. She received the same accolades three more times throughout the season - Feb. 9, Mar. 16 and 23.

Junior wrestler Barrett Abel had a strong junior season on the mat as he finished No. 14 in the country and won the Aggies' first individual Pac-10 title since 2007 at the 149-pound slot. This feat cashed Abel's ticket to his second straight national championship tournament.

In a season marred by injuries, the men's basketball team had to adapt to new lineups throughout the season. One thing that never changed was center Dominic Calegari.

Players that give maximum effort on every play are rare, but the men's basketball team has one in Joe Harden. Harden, the Notre Dame transfer from Acampo, Calif., put together another solid season offensively, coming in third on the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the floor.

Heidi Heintz has made quite an impression. In her first season on the court for UC Davis, the Spokane, Wash. local led the team with a .486 field goal percentage and a .856 free-throw percentage while placing second in points (10.8) and rebounds (4.5) per game.

Tanya Ho has made major contributions to the UC Davis gymnastics team in her four-year career. The senior out of Elk Grove, Calif. has won a total of nine Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week honors since her freshman campaign. She has also captured 13 All-MPSF nods, including vault and all-around for four straight years. Last year she was even named the conference Gymnast of the Year.

Last year, when UC Davis came up short to UC Santa Barbara at the 2009 Big West Conference Championships, something clicked in Scott Weltz's head. "We realized we were a really good team," Weltz said. "This year, coach [Pete] Motekaitis was telling us that it was in our hands to win championships."

When the men's basketball team needed an offensive spark, they turned to Julian Welch. The 6'3" guard from Elk Grove, Calif. consistently showed an ability to break down opposing defenses off the dribble while also punishing teams with his long-range shooting.

Who to watch: As a freshman, Michelle Espiritu started in 34 of the 45 games in which she played.