Davis, Calif. - After a fall season that saw UC Davis start the 2021-22 year with a conference championship, the Aggies only built on that momentum throughout the winter sport seasons.
A total of 62 Aggies were named to All-Academic teams in their respective conferences and 34 Aggies earned All-Conference awards with equestrian's Sierra Gundersen named a second team All-American in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
It was a season of milestones for UC Davis' storied women's basketball program.
In the final game of the regular season and on senior day no less, the Aggies helped Head Coach Jen Gross to her 200th career win as a head coach. Gross is only the fifth head coach in the history of the Big West Conference to reach 200 wins.
In December, Cierra Hall became the 16th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points in an 84-55 win over Stanislaus State. She also had 16 rebounds in that game, tying the Division I-era single game mark.
The Aggies provided a highlight for seasons to come on Dec. 1, defeating then-No. 18/16 Oregon 64-57 in Eugene. It was the second straight season the Aggies and Ducks had met, with UC Davis entering the fourth quarter with a lead in both games. On Feb. 6, 2021, the Ducks were able to erase that deficit but it was a different story on Dec. 1, 2021.
It was the first win over a nationally ranked opponent in 23 tries in UC Davis' Division I history and the 10th over a "Power Five" school in that same span -- eight of those coming against Pac-12 Conference opponents.
It wasn't just Hall that celebrated an individual milestone during the 2021-22 season. Sage Stobbart finished the season with 55 blocks, the second-best single season mark in program history and 153 career blocks, the second-best career total.
Hall and Stobbart helped lead the Aggies on yet another Big West Tournament run with UC Davis winning its opening round game over Long Beach State to advance to the semifinals.
Evanne Turner was named the All-Tournament team and was an All-Big West Honorable Mention and Hall was named All-Big West First Team - her fourth straight season being named to an all-conference team. Sydney Burns made the Big West All-Freshman Team and Stobbart was named to the All-Big West Defensive Team.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Few teams in college basketball were tasked with displaying the level of resiliency the Aggies were asked to during the 2021-22 season.
UC Davis endured more cancelations than any other team in the conference and yet, often that wasn't an issue for the Aggies.
Down to just seven available players on Jan. 8 against UC San Diego, the Aggies opted to play anyway and came together to win 78-71 in what was their first game since Dec. 22.
The 2021-22 season saw multiple victories over Power Five teams with a season-opening 72-69 win over Utah State and later on Dec. 14, a 71-64 win over defending PAC-12 champion Oregon State.
Ezra Manjon made individual history, becoming the 23rd Aggie to reach 1,000 career points and just the fifth to do so in his first three seasons.
Manjon was named All-Big West First Team while his backcourt mate Elijah Pepper made the Second Team.
The Aggies went on to win their opening round game at the Big West Tournament 63-53 over Cal Poly. Manjon was named an All-Big West First Team performer while Pepper made the second team.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
This season saw the Aggies place fourth at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships with all-time top ten marks coming on a near weekly basis throughout the season.
Marlene Gutierrez opened the season at the UW Invitational by shattering the indoor school record in the shot put with a mark of 49-2.50 (15.00m). Gutierrez broke the nearly eight-year-old record on her fifth throw of the competition to finish third overall.
On that first evening in Seattle, the Lindsay, Calif., native uncorked a personal best of 54-6.5 (16.62m) in the weight throw to place fourth overall. That mark that came on her second throw is the fifth-best in UC Davis indoor history.
The Aggies went 1-2 in the triple jump in the season opener as sophomore Kerrington Smith won the event with a leap of 39-1.75 (11.93m) and senior Samantha Louie followed with a mark of 38-5 (11.71m). For Smith, the personal best ranks fifth all-time in the UC Davis indoor annals.
In the sprints, junior Deja Ingram clocked the seventh fastest 60m indoor time in Aggies history with a 7.73, to place fifth overall. She also finished with a 25.94 in the 200m.
Newcomer Brianna Weidler crossed the line in the mile with a time of 4:55.82 to post the seventh fastest time in school history.
A UC Davis distance contingent returned to the University of Washington on Feb. 11 and continued to rewrite the Aggie record book.
A pair of freshmen in Hope Bergmark and Danielle Barrett etched their names in the record books in just the second meet of their careers.
In the 5,000m, Bergmark posted the third-fastest time in school history, crossing the line in 16:41.73. Barrett now holds the seventh fastest time at UC Davis with a 16:59.80.
On the same weekend, another group of Aggies competed at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational at the University of New Mexico. Sophomore Kerrington Smith leaped to the fourth-best mark in indoor school history with a 39-2.50 (11.95m) to finish second in her flight in Albuquerque.
The highlight of the MPSF Championship came from Bergmark, who claimed the individual title in the 5,000m, outdistancing the competition by over 15-seconds with a time of 16:44.44.
She then came back on day two to finish sixth overall in the 3000m with a time of 9:49.06.
In the pole vault the Aggies secured points with a second, fourth and seventh place showing. Juniors Marin Chamberlin and Katrina Meier both cleared indoor bests of 12-6.25 (3.82m) as Chamberlin was the runner-up on misses. Those 12-6.25 clearances were tied for fourth all-time in the UC Davis indoor annals.
At the end of the season 10 Aggies were named MPSF All-Academic.
EQUESTRIAN
The 2021-22 season proved to be the most successful in the program's four-year history on campus.
The Aggies posted a school record for wins and recorded the program's first postseason victory in defeating South Dakota State in their opening round meet at the ECAC Championship.
The season saw the most MOPs of any season previously as well as the first National Collegiate Equestrian Association All-American with Sierra Gundersen earning second team honors in flat.
UC Davis posted a winning record overall in jumping seat events, going 6-5-1 on the season with Gundersen going 7-1 in flat matchups and Tasia Anstead 8-4. Anstead also led the Aggies in fences, going 7-4.
On the western side, Sarah Finkel posted the best season by a horsemanship rider in program history. She posted a school record seven wins in going 7-3-1 while Lauren Langbaum also posted a seven-win season in reining, going 7-5 that included two wins at the ECAC Championships.
Perhaps the highlight of the season came from Sophia Calamari, who after transitioning from jumping seat to western this season, posted reining wins in both of UC Davis' ECAC Championship matchups. Her Mar. 25 147.5-146.5 win earned her an MOP and was a UC Davis postseason reining record.
The Aggies very nearly became a breakout team in the NCEA with four of their losses coming by just three points or less. That included a narrow 11-9 loss to then-No. 6 TCU in the second meet of the season and falling just 10-9 to another ranked team in SMU in their semifinal meet at the ECAC Championship.
GYMNASTICS
Competing for the first time in nearly two years, the 2021-22 season saw the Aggies return to win five meets and finish with a significant amount of hardware.
UC Davis earned 17 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Conference honors, led by senior Kyla Kessler being named Gymnast of the Year. Kessler became the 10th UC Davis gymnast to win the award, in addition to picking up first-team honors on the vault, beam, floor and all-around.
The Fremont, Calif., native competed in the all-around in nine of the 10 regular season meets, in which she accumulated three MPSF all-time top-10 totals. At Sacramento State on March 5, Kessler posted the MPSF's highest all-around (39.425) and floor score (9.95) in the regular season. Her all-around that day ranked fifth in the MPSF record book, while her floor routine was the third-best in the history of the conference.
Kessler also recorded a pair of 39.375 all-arounds in February to share the No. 10 all-time conference ranking. In her national qualifying scores, Kessler finished second in the MPSF in the all-around (39.270), tied for third on the balance beam (9.840), third on floor (9.875), tied for fourth on vault (9.845), and 11th on bars (9.780). She has the highest conference all-around average on the year of 39.119, surpassing the 39-point threshold eight times.
Kessler was recognized as a 2022 MPSF Gymnast of the Week four times and earned a conference-high four first-team All-MPSF awards (V, BB, FX, AA).
The UC Davis freshmen trio of Keanna Abraham, Emily Pires and Megan Ray also were named to the first team. Abraham and Pires joined Kessler with first-team honors on the vault as Ray paced the conference on the floor with an NQS of 9.895.
Abraham and Pires posted their highest score of the season on the vault against San Jose State with a 9.90 while Ray was 9.90 or above five times on the floor, including a 9.925 against the Spartans. Abraham was also named to the second team on floor, while Ray garnered second-team accolades on vault and on the beam.
Emma Otsu nabbed second team honors on the vault and beam, while Ava Scafani and Kaitlyn Lyle joined Otsu and Ray with recognition on the beam. Scafani was joined by Thea Michovsky with second-team accolades on the uneven bars.
The Aggies hosted the 2022 MPSF Championship at University Credit Union Center, finishing second in the team standings while freshman Megan Ray won the floor title.
Kessler, Ray and Abraham were each selected as NCAA Regional Qualifiers following that meet in all-around, floor and vault respectively. They continued a streak of Aggie representation in the NCAA postseason with UC Davis now having at least two student-athletes reach the postseason every year since 2010.
Kessler, in the all-around competition, posted a 39.200 to wrap up her senior campaign. Kessler opened the regional with a 9.80 on the vault and then went 9.75 on the bars. The senior then closed out her postseason with a 9.775 on the beam and a 9.875 on the floor. The MPSF Gymnast of the Year recorded a score of 39 and above in 10 meets this season.
Joining Kessler in the early session of the day was Abraham on the vault. The newcomer tallied a score of 9.875 to equal the second-best score of her stellar freshman season. The rookie tallied a score of 9.85 or better in five meets, including a 9.875 to begin her postseason at the MPSF Championship.
In the night session, Ray also tallied 9.875 on the floor exercise. The leading scorer in the event in the MPSF this season recorded a 9.875 or above nine times during her freshman season.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Matt Macedo's first season as head coach of the Aggies ended in a fifth place team finish at the MPSF Championship with numerous top-five individual finishes at the conference meet.
Freshman Sam Rhodes turned in a standout season in her first foray into collegiate competition, finishing second in the 400 IM at the MPSF Championship in 4:20.48 to earn ALL-MPSF first team in the event. Rhodes' time was a collegiate best and is fourth on the all-time list, the first time since 2020 that any Aggie has cracked the top-10 list in the event and the fastest since 2017.
Anna Lee had top-eight finishes across three events at MPSFs, taking fourth in the 50 free in 23.21, fifth in the 100 fly in 54.81, and seventh in the 100 free in 51.02. Lee's 50 free and 100 fly times were seventh all-time on both lists. Lee also helped the Aggie 200 free relay team to a third place finish in 1:33.01.
All told, UC Davis had 10 All-MPSF second-team swimmers in addition to Rhodes' first-team swim in the 400 IM:
200 Free Relay (Lee, Fasan, Douglas, Eckel) - 3rd; 1:33.01
50 Free, Anna Lee - 4th; 23.21
100 Fly, Anna Lee - 5th; 54.81
100 Breast, Dani Fasan - 5th; 1:03.19
100 Back, Caroline Eckel - 8th; 56.17
100 Free, Anna Lee - 7th; 51.02
200 Breast, Haley Hoefer - 7th; 2:19.28
1-Meter Diving, Taylor Hornberger - 5th, 264.90
3-Meter Diving, Taylor Hornberger - 5th, 284.50
3-Meter Diving, Sydney Wren - 6th, 278.05
Platform Diving, Taylor Schwarz - 7th, 193.30
20 Aggies were named MPSF All-Academic, extending UC Davis' streak of double-digit All-Academic selections to 12 straight years.
