Sports

The UC Davis women's water polo team started the 2009 season with a very talented freshmen class, but no one knew how they would perform.

Freshman defender Kaylee Miller proved any doubts were erroneous as she led the talented first years on way to the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

Qualifying for the Regional Championships is often a career-capping achievement, one for which athletes may spend years waiting.

Ostrom didn't have to wait.

Thanks to his 5.05m vault at the Cal-Nevada Championships on Mar. 29th, Ostrom earned the honor of competing against the best vaulters in the West. He was one of only three freshmen to do so.

Polly Gnepa was expected to do big things entering this season. After all, he had run the 110m hurdles in 14.01 seconds - the fastest ever as an Aggie - and placed third at the Big West Conference Championships in 2008.

Gnepa did more than anyone could imagine.

Sophomore sensation Austin Graham had about as good of a year as one can have.

His 72.0 scoring average was tops on a team that skyrocketed to as high as No. 24 in the country and that captured a Big West Conference title.

In 2004 and 2005, the UC Davis men's soccer team welcomed the likes of Sule Anibaba, Jordan Vanderpoorten, Jake Mogelson, Dylan Curtis, Ian Conklin and Ahmad Hatifie - not to mention MLS draft pick Quincy Amarikwa of the San Jose Earthquakes.

In 2008, this group became seniors and put together the best season that the men's soccer program has ever seen, and arguably the best in the two years of Division I athletics at UC Davis across the board.

Event: NCAA Division I Track and Field National Championships

Where: John McDonnell Field - Fayetteville, Ark.

When: Wednesday through Saturday; all day

Watch: Online: CBS College Sports Network, Friday 4 p.m.; TV: CBS Saturday 10 a.m.

On Saturday, May 30, Jazz Trice accomplished a feat never before achieved by an Aggie as he qualified for the NCAA Division I Track and Field National Championships.

In virtue of his personal record run of 13.57 seconds in the 110m hurdlers, Trice placed third in the West Regional.

Trice doesn't even think he ran his best race.

There are countless ways to describe Quincy Amarikwa.

Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Year, second-team All-American, first-team All-Far West Region, first Aggie to receive National Player of the Week honors, first UC Davis player to make the senior roster of a Major League Soccer club - the list goes on.

Senior Nate Pistacchio held nothing back in his final year at UC Davis as he helped the Aggies to their first Big West title in school history.

He enjoyed his finest season as an Aggie, earning All-Big West Conference first-team honors as well as Big West Golfer of the Month honors for October.

Senior Ramie Sprinkling finished off his career at UC Davis with a bang as he led the Aggies to their first ever Big West Conference championship in school history.

He won two tournaments this year including the Fresno State Lexus Classic and was named to the all-Big West Conference first team.

It's not how you start but how you finish.

The UC Davis men's varsity 8 rowing team followed this saying to a tee in the grand final race at the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn. on May 24.

In last place 1,250 meters into the race, UC Davis used a late spurt over the final 750 meters to overtake four other competitors to finish in second place and grab the silver at nationals.

Larry Vanderhoef apologizes for his casual attire as he takes a seat on his office couch.

"I'm sorry," the UC Davis chancellor says. "I hadn't planned on coming in today."

He's wearing a patterned tan and black collared shirt and a plain pair of white pants usually reserved for outside the walls of fifth-floor Mrak Hall.

Before signing up for my first collegiate class, before spending my first night in the dorms and before eating my first of approximately 540 meals at the dining commons freshman year, I applied for a position on the sports desk at The California Aggie.

Three years later, I'm saying goodbye.

Sort of.

At 2:25 p.m. on Saturday, the starter's pistol fired to signal the start of the men's 110m hurdles.

Ten hurdles and less than 14 seconds later, juniors Jazz Trice and Poly Gnepa made UC Davis history by becoming the first Aggies to qualify for the NCAA Division I National Track and Field Championships. Trice finished in third, with Gnepa earning the last automatic qualifier in fifth.