May 2, 2017 DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis junior Morgan Bertsch captured Big West Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week accolades for the period ending April 30, the league office announced Tuesday. This is the fifth weekly track & field award to go to an Aggie in 2017.
It also marks the first time since in more than five years that a UC Davis student-athlete has won conference Athlete of the Week distinction in two different sports. Bertsch was selected as Big West Player of the Week for women's basketball on December 26, 2016. Distance runner
Sarah Sumpter was the last to achieve the feat, capturing the award four times between cross country and track & field in the 2011-12 school year. In just her third meet of the season, the Santa Rosa, California, native won the high jump at California's Brutus Hamilton Challenge with a school-record leap of 1.78 meters, or 5-feet-10. This surpasses the previous UC Davis benchmark of 1.76m, held jointly by
Erinn Beattie (2016, 2017) and
Katie Barber (2015). Bertsch's mark puts her atop the Big West Conference leaderboard, ties her for 18th in the West and 35th nationally. Bertsch rejoined Aggie track & field after the conclusion of her basketball season, in which she led her team in scoring (520), field-goal percentage (.505) and blocked shots (57). She earned All-Big West first-team distinction, and helped UC Davis to a 25-8 overall record and a WNIT "Sweet Sixteen" berth. UC Irvine's Isaiah Jewett earned Men's Track Athlete of the Week, CSUN sprinter captured Women's Track Athlete of the Week, and Long Beach State jumper Vincent Calhoun earned Men's Field Athlete of the Week plaudits.
