March 20, 2010
Complete Results
DAVIS, Calif. - Despite limited student-athletes available to compete due to final exams, the Aggie men's and women's track and field teams still managed to showcase strong performances on Saturday, combining to win seven events at the UC Davis Classic at Woody Wilson Track.
Capturing victories for the men were Russ Pfaff in the 5,000-meter run (14:59.52), Polly Gnepa in the 110 high hurdles (14.24), Alex Wilright in the 400 hurdles (52.43) and Ed Orgon in the shot put (54-03.25). UC Davis' 4x400 relay (3:14.21) also earned a first-place finish.
The Aggie women picked up wins by Lauren Wallace in the 800 (2:13.87) and from their 4x400 relay (3:49.86).
Saturday's inaugural UC Davis Classic featured several hundred collegiate, club and unattached competitors. The Aggies, however, had just partial crews available since Saturday was the last day of final exams at UC Davis and many student-athletes were finishing tests.
The exam schedule also affected practice time throughout the week.
"The team was mentally beat," said men's coach Jon Vochatzer, "but we had a solid effort."
Wallace had a strong showing during her 800 victory, cutting nearly four seconds off her personal-best from two weeks ago and winning by nearly that margin over Anna Eicholtz from Chico State.
Wallace then teamed with Melanise Chapman, Kiara Reed and Tonie Williams to finish first in the long relay as well. The Aggies beat 10 other teams in the event, crossing the line nearly four seconds in front of San Francisco State.
Gnepa won his third straight high hurdles race of the season while Wilright took the long hurdles for the second consecutive week. Orgon's win was the first of his season while his shot put mark was a season-best. Pfaff was on the only runner in the 5K field to break 15 minutes, crossing the line almost 12 seconds in front of Isai Orea of Fresno City College.
The Aggie women posted 10 top-three finishes during the all-day meet, including a second-place posting by Carrington Mahr in the high jump whose mark of 5 feet, 6 inches ties her for ninth on the program's all-time list.
Another top-10 mark came from Chapman who was third in the 100 in 12.16 seconds, jumping the freshman to No. 6 on the all-time list in just her third outdoor meet.
The UC Davis men had 11 placings among the top three.
Both Aggie teams will be back in full action next weekend when they travel to Southern California for the Cal-Nevada Championships at UCLA.
