In the final meet on the west coast for the UC Davis cross country teams, junior Sarah Sumpter and sophomore Trevor Halsted led the Aggies in their respective races. The women’s team placed sixth overall in the NCAA Division I West Regional, while the men closed at 15th on the Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle, Wash. UC Davis placed eighth last year on the women’s side at Stanford and improved on that finish this year. Sumpter put up a time of 20:03 for 13th place, a couple slots ahead of junior Alycia Cridebring’s 16th place finish. Just 28 seconds later, sophomore Katie Fry finished the race in 33rd. Freshman Christine Hoffmann finished 47th for UC Davis with a time of 20:51 and senior Lauren Wallace rounded out the Aggies’ lineup with a 21:14 68th place finish. “The Aggie women put together their finest team effort of the season, starting with an aggressive and well-executed start,” said head coach Drew Wartenburg. Though the Aggies were not in the top two and... ...

The UC Davis cross country runners pieced together strong performances in their respective races this weekend at the Big West Conference meet at UC Riverside. The men’s 8K course saw the Aggie men finish in fourth place as a team, an improvement from last year’s sixth place. On the women’s side, last year’s champions UC Davis had a very impressive race, but were dethroned by Cal Poly by a very slim margin. The Aggies couldn’t defend their Big West cross country title and finished a very respectable second place. Sophomore Trevor Halsted was the top finisher for UC Davis when he clocked in a 24:23.3 sixth-place finish. Freshman Brandon Pugh completed the course in 13th place, several spots ahead of freshman Cody Nguyen in 22nd, the next Aggie runner to finish. Junior Nathan Strum put in a 27th-place finish with a time of 25:37 while freshman Jordon Rushing closed in three seconds later for the 28th spot. The Aggies finished with a team score of 94, while the top finisher... ...

The UC Davis cross country teams have had a couple weeks of rest after an intense fall season, but will need all the energy they can get at this year’s Big West Championships. The meet will take place on Saturday in Riverside for the fifth year in a row, with both the men and the women competing at the UC Riverside Ags/Ops Course. The Aggie women took the championship last year, averaging a 20:59 through their top five runners. Current junior Sarah Sumpter placed second with a 20:33.7 time and is the top returner from last year’s field. Sumpter was followed by juniors Alycia Cridebring in eighth place and Shannon Harcus, who placed 28th. Sumpter and Cridebring have been consistently pacing the Aggies and will almost definitely be some of the top performers in the field. With a 12th-place finish at the Pre-Nationals meet in Louisville, Ky. Sumpter secured her place as one of the elite runners in the nation and will be a strong force for UC Davis at... ...

The UC Davis cross country teams split up its squads this weekend, sending some runners across the country while others stayed closer to home. Whether the Aggie runners were down in Santa Clara for the Bronco Invitational or over in Louisville, Ky. for the NCAA Division I Pre-Nationals, it was an encouraging weekend for UC Davis. Both races were run on Saturday. On the 6k course hosted by the University of Louisville, junior Sarah Sumpter turned in a time of 20:15, which was good for 12th place in the strong field of the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Junior Alycia Cridebring placed 29th overall with a time of 20:42.8. This strong showing for the Aggies in the group of 265 runners led UC Davis to 10th place with 320 points. The field was littered with some of the top college teams in the country, including Florida State, the No. 1 ranked team in the country. “We beat some good teams today to take home a 10th-place result, but we fell short of the... ...

The UC Davis cross country teams have been showing their strengths all year long and this weekend they will have an opportunity to see how they fare against some of the top teams in the nation. The Aggies will send their travel squad to Kentucky for the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet, where there will be close to 10 teams that are nationally ranked. The meet will take place on Saturday. “This meet is at a pivotal time, it’s the last big meet opportunity before we head into the conference championship,” said head coach Drew Wartenburg. “In order to get an idea of how we stack up, we have to seek out meets with the stronger fields.” The Aggies will be sending nine of their top runners to the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by University of Louisville. UC Davis will be led by senior Sarah Sumpter, who placed second overall at the Pac-12 Preview and Alycia Cridebring, who finished fifth overall. Sumpter finished second overall at last year’s Big West Championships, en route... ...

UC Davis has developed into quite a prominent front-runner in cross country. As the season enters full bloom, both the men and women runners have been gaining experience that will help them in the upcoming months of competition. At the Pac-12 preview hosted by UCLA, the Aggies tested their might by sending down their more experienced runners. Sarah Sumpter led the women by placing second overall and junior Alycia Cridebring finished fifth in the women’s 5k race. Four other UC Davis runners finished in the top 30 of a strong field. As for this past weekend, the Aggies put other runners to the test at the Stanford Invitational. The women’s cross country team threw a handful of younger runners into the mix to gain some experience. The Aggies sent four freshmen, which included Venus Shabgahi who placed 30th, the highest of the UC Davis women. Sophomore Melinda Zavala followed Shabgahi’s performance with a 22:21 in the 6k and junior Hilary Teaford finished three seconds after Zavala. The women’s runners placed... ...

Come next season, the men’s cross country team will be feeling the loss of senior Jonathan Peterson. The Clovis, Calif. native’s successful career with the Aggies has included school records, All-American honors, and two trips to the NCAA Division I championship. This season Peterson led the Aggies in every race that he ran, including a first place finish at the Aggie Open. He placed third in the Stanford Invitational in September and his strong performance at the Big West Championship was good for fifth. He finished 10th at the NCAA Regionals with a time of 29:30 earning All-West Region accolades and an at-large bid to the national championship where he finished in the top third of runners. — Kaitlyn Zufall ...

Senior Jonathan Peterson finished his collegiate career in the top third of runners in the NCAA Division I championship race on Monday afternoon. His time of 30:34.5 was good for 71st place out of a competitive pool of 252 runners. Peterson received an at-large bid to the meet after his 29:30 time and 10th place finish at the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 12th. The meet was hosted by Indiana State at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. The first place finisher was freshman Lawi Lalang from the University of Arizona who completed the 10K course with a time of 28:44.1. Peterson’s time was 25 seconds shy of his visit to the championship race last season. His previous 30:09.1 time and consequent 14th place finish earned All-American recognition for the Clovis, Calif. native in 2010. It was the first time that a runner in the UC Davis men’s cross country program had received the honor. Despite a successful season in which he led the Aggies in nearly every... ...

Cross Country This afternoon the fastest collegiate runners from across the nation will assemble for the NCAA Division I Championship. For the second consecutive year, senior Jonathan Peterson will represent the Aggies as the sole runner for UC Davis. Peterson is one of 38 collegiate athletes from across the country that will be running the 10K race. The runners were selected through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process based on last week’s NCAA Regional meets. Peterson was announced as an at-large qualifier after placing 10th in the West Regional with a time of 29:30. Based on Peterson’s successful career with UC Davis, the Aggies will be represented well in this final event of the cross country season. — Kaitlyn Zufall ...

UC Davis traveled to Stanford for the NCAA West Regional looking to close out its season on top. UC Davis men started their 10K at 10 a.m on Saturday. A short 29 minutes and 30 seconds later, senior Jonathan Peterson was crossing the finish line. Peterson’s time was 35 seconds faster than the time he posted at last year’s NCAA West Regional. Peterson’s finish earned him a bid in the NCAA Championship, which was his goal for this season. Senior Axel Stanovsky was the next Aggie to finish. He completed the race with a time of 31:11, placing 87th overall. Sophomore Nathan Strum and freshman Trevor Halsted both ran the race in 31:52, placing third and fourth for the Aggies, 116th and 118th overall. The seven men combined to earn 17th place for the Aggies overall. “For the men we’ve had trouble putting together a full strength effort. We’re young on the men’s side and age and experience factor heavily in this sport but today we gained experience,” coach Drew... ...

Event: NCAA West Regional Where: Stanford Golf Course — Stanford, Calif. When:  Saturday, all day Who to watch: Senior Krista Dreschler will be looking to compete strongly in the final NCAA Regional of her career. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native finished 16th at the Big West Conference Championship Meet Oct. 29. Did you know? The NCAA Regional will take place on the Stanford Golf Course. The women’s six kilometer race and the men’s 10 kilometer race both cut across four of the course’s 18 holes. Preview: The women’s team will be looking to keep their momentum rolling into this weekend’s NCAA West Regional after winning its first ever Big West title earlier this season. The squad prides itself on its strong depth, with a number of runners capable of finishing near the top of the leaderboard. Junior Sarah Sumpter, sophomore Alycia Cridebring, freshman Katie Fry and senior Kritsina Taylor all finished in the top-14 at the Big West Championships less than two weeks ago. UC Davis is hoping to to... ...

Cross Country Although there won’t be any championships won this weekend, the Doc Adams Open is sure to provide some healthy competition for UC Davis cross country. With a good group of schools coming to Davis for the race, this will be a chance for younger players and redshirts to show what they are made of as many of the Aggies’ top runners rest in preparation for the NCAA Regionals next week. Coach Drew Wartenburg believes it will be a good measuring stick for many of the runners. “This is a great opportunity for our athletes that aren’t usually counted on for points to gain some accountability,” he said. “Across the board, there’s opportunities to move up the depth chart.” The race will take place on the west-edge of campus at the Putah Creek Reserve course. The men’s race will begin at 10 in the morning while the women will start at 10:45. — Russell Eisenman ...