March 13, 2003

NCAA Championships Website

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Senior Matt Davie won his 12th career All-America award with his fifth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, while freshman Yuka Kobayashi and junior Vanessa Sallee also captured similar by respectively placing fourth and eighth in the 400 individual medley during the second day of action at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of North Dakota Thursday.

The UC Davis men moved into sixth with 111.5 points while the women are in seventh with 112. Defending champion Cal State Bakersfield leads the men's race while Truman State (Mo.) leads the women's.

Davie posted a time of 1:39.75 in the 200 free, becoming only the second swimmer in program history to break the 1:40 barrier. He finished in 1:40.39 in Thursday's preliminaries to advance to the final, then whittled more than a half-second off that time to finish fifth overall.

Davie's teammates Kevin Williams, Travis Low, Pat Jacobson and John Smith also garnered All-America distinction, placing third in the 200 free relay with a school-record time of 1:22.96, edging the previous mark by just one hundredth of a second.

Kobayashi and Sallee had two of the UC Davis women's three All-American performances on Thursday, turning in times of 4:28.32 and 4:37.17, respectively, the 400 IM final. Kobayashi later contributed as the third leg of the Aggies' All-American 400 medley relay team. She and teammates Elizabeth Glick, Zahra Shahalayi and Jessica Pietrzyk combined for a time of 3:54.61 in that final, good for sixth place.

Also scoring team points on the men's side were Alex Ignatov, with his 10th-place time of 4:04.17 in the 400 individual medley; and Low's 14th-place finish overall with a 51.00 effort in the 100 butterfly. The Aggies received relay points from the 400 medley tandem of Kyle Wooldridge, Eddie Fernandez, Low and Davie, which took second in the consolation final - 10th-place overall - with a season-best time of 3:25.23.

For the women, Abbey Cornell placed 14th in the 100 fly at 58.18 and the 200 freestyle relay squad of Sallee, Pietrzyk, Lisa Petersen and Elizabeth Glick touched in 1:39.11 to finish 14th and add to UC Davis' scoring column.

In two days of action at nationals, the Aggie women have combined for six All-America awards while the men have claimed four. The women's total represents the program's highest since 1989, when Shannon Little helped UC Davis claim nine of such honors.

NCAA DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS
Grand Forks, N.D. (hosted by University of North Dakota)
Event winners plus UC Davis finishers.

WOMEN

TEAM SCORES (top 5 plus UCD) - 1. Truman State, 345; 2. Drury, 233; 3. Cal St. Bakersfield, 191; 4. West Chester, 175.5; 5. UC San Diego, 155.5.....7. UC Davis, 112.

200 FREE RELAY - 1. Drury (Mo.), 1:33.50... 14. UC Davis (Vanessa Sallee, Jessica Pietrzyk, Lisa Petersen, Elizabeth Glick), 1:39.11.

400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY - 1. Kelli Dudley, Truman State (Mo.), 4:23.40... 4. Yuka Kobayashi, 4:28.32; 8. Vanessa Sallee, 4:37.17.

100 BUTTERFLY - 1. Loni Burton, Cal St. Bakersfield, 54.40... 14. Abbey Cornell, 58.18.

200 FREESTYLE - 1. Loni Burton, Cal St. Bakersfield, 1:48.92... 24. Rachelle Compton, 1:56.68; 25. Elizabeth Glick, 1:56.71; 37. Lisa Petersen, 1:58.06.

400 MEDLEY RELAY - 1. Truman State, 3:47.73... 6. UC Davis (Elizabeth Glick, Zahra Shahalayi, Yuka Kobayashi, Jessica Pietrzyk), 3:54.61.

1-METER DIVING - 1. Laura Lafranchise, Cal St. Bakersfield, 384.60.

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MEN

TEAM SCORES (top 5 plus UCD) - 1. Cal St. Bakersfield, 324; 2. Drury, 284; 3. North Dakota, 212.5; 4. West Chester, 174; 5. Delta St., 113... 6. UC Davis, 111.5.

200 FREE RELAY - 1. West Chester (Pa.), 1:21.65... 3. UC Davis (Kevin Williams, Travis Low, Pat Jacobson, John Smith), 1:22.69.

400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY - 1. Orel Oral, Indianapolis (Ind.), 3:55.00... 10. Alex Ignatov, 4:04.17; 19. Kyle Wooldridge, 4:07.81.

100 BUTTERFLY - 1. Ben Michaelson, Southern Connecticut, 45.60... 14. Travis Low, 51.00.

200 FREESTYLE - 1. Andras Schonek, West Chester, 1:38.76... 5. Matt Davie, 1:39.75; 17. Kevin Williams, 1:42.22.

400 MEDLEY RELAY - 1. North Dakota, 3:20.60... 10. UC Davis (Kyle Wooldridge, Eddie Fernandez, Travis Low, Matt Davie), 3:25.33.