Investor Newslet terAggies Impact All-time lists at

Stanford Invite and Cal/Nevada Championships

The Aggie distance squad made an assault on the record books Friday, March 26th at the Stanford Invite. Highlighting the day was Jonathan Peterson’s 14:09.23 in the 5000 meters. He broke Mark McManus’ 13 year old record and set a personal best by 11 seconds.

Five Aggie women also set personal bests and moved up on the all time lists in the distance events. Senior Kaitlin Gregg moved from the #3 position to the #2 position in the 10k running 34:01.20, while sophomore teammate Sarah Sumpter moved into the #3 position with her 34:28.84. In the 5k, sophomore Krista Dreschler ran 17:04.71 making her the 9th fastest Aggie of all time in that event. In the steeplechase senior Ali Stoakley ran 10:42.44 to move into the #2 two position all-time. She is only three seconds off the school record in that event. Earlier on Friday, teammate Caitlin Fitzgerald ran the steeplechase at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival and ran a life-time best 10:45.56 which puts her in the #3 position all-time, behind Stoakley.

Wilright wins 400m Hurdles at Cal/Nevada Championships

On Sunday, March 28th, junior Alex Wilright captured his third 400m hurdles title at the Cal/Nevada State

Championship in a time of 50.91. Wilright won the event in 2007 and 2009, in addition to 2010. In 2008 teammate Thomas Phillips took home gold, making the Aggies the owners of the long hurdles for four consecutive years. Wilrght’s is the leading mark in the Big West Conference and ranks him #2 in the West Region so far this season.

The Aggies had several other top finishers including a 2-3 punch from senior high hurdlers Polly Gnepa and Jazz Trice, a third place finish by Igor Seriba in the triple jump (47-10), and a 4th place finish by junior Matt Council in the 400m. Council ran a PR of 47.66 putting him at #5 on the all-time list in that event. On the women’s side, freshman Melanise Champman tied Nicole Theus’ school record of 11.86 in the 100m in the prelims

CONTENTS

STANFORD INVITE Distance runners make an assault on the record books at the Stanford Invitational P.1

CAL/NEVADA CHAMPIONSHIPSAggies notch top finishes at the Cal/Nevada State Championships P.1

AGGIE OPEN AND UC DAVIS CLASSIC Aggies win fifteen events between our two home meets in March P.2

MEET PREVIEWThe Aggies will next be in action at the Sun Angel Invite at Arizona State University P.2

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTMeet Patti (Gray) Bellan, an All-American distance runner who ran for the Aggies from 1980-1985 P.3

UC DAVIS TRACK AND FIELD APRIL 2010

UCDAVIS Track and Field

Newsletter

Peterson breaks 5k record

Jonathan Peterson broke a 13 year old school record in the 5k running 14:09.23

of the event on Saturday. Senior Stephanie Eckels jumped a personal best 39 feet, 6.50 inches in the triple jump to put her at #5 on the all-time list.

Aggies Shine in Home Meets

The Aggies hosted back to back weekends in March, holding the Aggie Open on March 13th and the UC Davis Classic on March 20th. Between the two meets, the Aggies came away with fifteen victories on their home track. Three Aggies won their event on both weekends with Senior Polly Gnepa taking the 110 hurdles each weekend, junior Alex Wilright winning the 400m hurdles, and sophomore Lauren Wallace claiming both 800 meters. Wallace has been on a hot streak, improving her 800m time in almost every meet since February. Her time at Aggie Open of 2:16.00 was a PR, but she went on to better it by almost three seconds the following weekend running 2:13.87. She improved that mark yet again at the Cal/Nevada Championships when she ran 2:12.87 in the prelims. Gnepa’s mark of 13.93 at Aggie Open is a season best and currently makes him the Big West Conference leader and ranks him 6th in the West Region.

Other event winners at the Aggie Open were junior Jonathan Sees who won the men’s 800m in 1:54.68, junior Jonathan Peterson in the 1500m (3:53.34), senior Tessa Fraser in the women’s pole valut (11-11.75), and sophomore Ethan Ostrom in the men’s pole vault (15.75). Freshmen Michael Peterson also vaulted 15.75 but Ethan claimed the victory based on attempts. In addition to the individual winners, the women’s 4x100m relay team, consiting of senior Stephanie Eckels, freshmen Melanise Chapman, senior Sirena Williams, and junior Mina Mohammadi, won the meet in a time of 47.36.

Event winners at the UC Davis Classic included junior Russ Pfaff in the 5000m (14:59.52), junior Eddie Orgon in the shot put

(54-03.25) and both the men’s and women’s 4x400m teams who clocked 3:14.21 and 3:49.86 respectively.

Preview: Sun Angel Track Classic

The Aggies will next be in action at the Sun Angel Track Classic hosted by Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. The Sun Angel Classic brings together top collegiate athletes from all over the nation and will give the Aggies a chance to compete with other athletes from the West Region who they may not otherwise see before the post-season. Be on the lookout for junior Thomas Phillips as he tries to defend his school record in the 400m against teammate Alex Wilright. Freshmen Melanise Chapman will also try to claim the 100m record once and for all after tying it at the Cal/Nevada Championships. Look also for season debuts in the 5000m by distance runners Kaitlin Gregg, Sarah Sumpter, and Ali Stoakley as well as Russ Pfaff ’s season opener in the steeplechase. In 2009 Pfaff was the Big West Conference Champion in the steeplechase and had a season best time of 8:48.81, less than a second off Ed Haver’s school record of 8:48.54. Kaitlin Gregg will also be on the hunt for a school record in the 5k.

!

Picnic Day, Saturday, April 17th

UC Davis Community Kids’ Races at 12:40 p.m.

John Pappa Alumni Mile at 2:00 p.m.

Yolo County Special Olympics race 3:20 p.m.

Check out the complete schedule at

ucdavisaggies.com!

UC DAVIS TRACK AND FIELD APRIL 2010

Alex Wilright has won all three 400m Hurdle events he’s entered this season

.

UC DAVIS TRACK AND FIELD APRIL 2010

!

Patti (Gray) BellanPatti Gray grew up in Pleasanton, CA where she

attended Foothill High School. She began running when

she was 13 but truly blossomed in her athletic career at

UC Davis, under the direction of Coach Sue Williams.

Patti ran for the Aggies from 1980-1985 and during that

time won 3 NCAA titles in track and held school records

in the 1500 (4:30.74), 3000m (9:28.24), 5000m (16:34.87),

and 10,000m (33:42.33). She held the 3000m and 5000m

records for over twenty years and the 10,000m record

still stands today. Upon graduating, Patti continued to

run competitively. During her post collegiate

career she won the Honolulu Marathon and the

California International Marathon, and was the

silver medalist in the 1985 World University

Games. In 1988 she ran in U.S. Olympic Trials.

Patti now lives in Boise, ID with her husband Phillip

Bellan. She teaches P.E. and continues to run to this day.

In 2006 she came home to run at the USATF Club

Nationals Championships in Golden Gate Park

with college teammates Francie Negri, Jill

Perry-Strangio, Nacy Reidel, and Linda

Sommers-Smith (all pictured to the left). The

team of Aggies won the masters national title that

year with Patti finishing 4th overall.

UC DAVIS TRACK AND FIELD WINTER 2010

Jonathan Allen Emily and Constantino AnastMelina and Scott Asbill Shelly and Andrew Avellar Amelia and John Barrett Ann Bertucci Patricia and Phillip Bellan Karla and Frank Bird Black Diamond Electricity Roger Browning Cal Western Farming Family Carolyn and Doug CampbellKathryn and Scott CampbellAllison and Stephen ChilcottKim and Chris Clark Sally Ann and Piers Cooper Jody and Jeff Council Carolyn Demoss Adrian DeWald Dorothea and Albert Drechsler Liz and Doug DuncanMelissa Ferguson Druanne and Paul Fitzgerald Diane and Douglas FreundValerie and Dave Gallaher Barbara and Jerrald Gonce Jennifer and Jim Green

Ginny and Edward Haver Lauren and Eric HermanJill and Richard Hill Kathleen Himmelberger Stephen Holloway Maria and Anderson Howard John Huhn Margarete and Paul Laffitte Isipora and Ehud Landen Susan and Fred LebeLegacy Farmers Michelle Leinfelder Malcolm Lloyd-Smith Debbie and Ken JonesDorothy and WC Jones Patricia Kriz Jackie and Michael KuhlCamarin and Daniel Madigan Martin Painting Francis and Angel Martinez Susanne and Jose Martinez Laura and Thomas Mullen/Bower Newkirk Construction Ellis and Trudy OldhamEdward Orgon Ana Marie and Dahl Ortiz/HarrisElise and Dawn Ostrom/Brown Meredith and John Pappa

Joe Patane Pension Resource Associates Clare and David Petersen Jeana Petersen Pam and Mic Petersen Vicki and Mark Petersen Alberta Pfaff Mark PhillipsMargy Powell Teri Serrano Raffel Eurita and Curtis Reed Annette and Edward RobertsGertrude RuscheLarry Sartori Alexandra and George Scarvelis Ayman ShahidLucinda and James Sharp Carole and John Schuk Garrett Spotts Byron and Pamela Spradling Elaine and Clinton StanovskyDawn and Paul Starr Michael and Mary Terkildsen Tricia and Dave Townsend Charles TravellaDirk VandepolSteven WilburJames Wilson

Thank you to our donors....

This newsletter was put together by Kim Conley. Please direct feedback to her at kfconley@ucdavis.edu

Happy Spring alum, friends and supporters of Aggie Track & Field!

Greetings from the home office here in Hickey Annex in Davis. We hope the spring season finds all well with each of you. We are enjoying some sunnier days and times after what proved to be a cold and wet winter. As the team wades into the middle of the competition season we remain excited to see good times and marks roll in. The Big West Conference Championships are just over 5 weeks away, and we will carry high hopes with us to Northridge this May. We owe a big thanks to all who have stepped up to contribute to the cross country and track and field programs in recent months. As everyone knows, the state of California, UC system and the UC Davis Athletic Department face some stiff challenges at this point in time, and the continued support of our donor base helps ensure a future in which we can offer the best possible training and competitive opportunities to Aggie student-athletes. Picnic Day and Woody Wilson are only a short 10 day away! We hope to see you here at some point on Saturday the 17th.

- Track and Field Staff