Sports

Event: Stanford Invitational

Where: Stanford Golf Course - Stanford, Calif.

When: Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

I'm standing in a Hickey Gym hallway, waiting for the class before mine to end so I can sit down and pretend to pay attention for the next 50 minutes.

Some girl wearing a UCLA sweatshirt appears to be doing the same thing.

The UC Davis football team almost has it all.

It has arguably the top wide receiver corps in the Football Championship Subdivision. It has an All-American who head coach Bob Biggs calls the greatest defensive tackle to ever wear an Aggies jersey. It has another All-American at guard anchoring its interior offensive line. It has a young quarterback who someday could go down as a legend. It has a blend of veterans and newcomers contributing on both sides of the ball.

Much has changed since Greg Warzecka became UC Davis' athletics director 13 years ago.

A non-scholarship school when Warzecka arrived at the university, UC Davis is now entering its second Division I campaign - and the Aggies have wasted little time in making an impact at collegiate sports' highest level.

UC Davis' strategy entering the 2008 season was a simple one.

"Our goal, as always, is to get into the final group in the last round," head coach Cy Williams said. "That will give us a chance to win."

The UC Davis men's soccer team has spent the past couple of years trying to make its mark on the Division I scene.

After a 12-5-3 showing last season, a second-place finish in the Big West, an NCAA Tournament appearance and a 6-1 start to the 2008 campaign, it is no longer a matter of whether the Aggies belong in Division I, but a question of whether they belong among the nation's elite.

Following a record-breaking season is never easy.

The Aggies won a school-record 22 games while going a perfect 14-0 in Western Water Polo Association play, advancing all the way to the conference title game.

The California Aggie's fall quarter spotlight team was selected by Aggie Sports Editor Adam Loberstein and Aggie Sports Writers Michael Gehlken, Max Rosenblum, Sammy Brasch and Matt Miller.

With the retirement of head coach Kathy DeYoung, Anne Walker takes the reigns of the UC Davis women's golf team this campaign.

Aside from that, not a whole lot has changed.

Building a women's rowing program requires some outside-the-box thinking.

Unlike traditional collegiate teams, where coaches have thousands of high school athletes to pool from in recruiting, Division I rowing programs are cast from a different mold.

UC Davis women's soccer head coach MaryClaire Robinson paces up the sideline. She paces down it.

Her heart rate lowers. It spikes back up. Now up even higher. Back down again.

First-year head coach Drew Wartenburg knows he has a pair of experienced seniors capable of leading the way, but he doesn't want the UC Davis men's cross country team to depend on either of them.