A look back at over 100 years of UC Davis athletics as the Aggies move to the Mountain West
What started as the University Farm with just one sport has grown into a highly competitive Division I program for men and women
The University Farm, later to be known as the University of California at Davis, welcomed its first students in 1907, but it didn’t take long for some of those early Aggies to represent the university on the field of play.
By 1915, The Farm had fielded an intercollegiate football team that earned its first-ever win over Nevada in that inaugural season. This, despite the fact UC Davis had just 354 students, including football team captain Hira Hall.
That was also the year the Department of Vegetable Crops was established on campus, while the first all-weather road to Sacramento opened.
From humble beginnings was athletic prowess born.
As the Aggies now take a bold step into the Mountain West after a 20-year run in the Big West, competition against a whole new slate of schools has begun in earnest this month.
Aggie football, which owns a national record of 20 consecutive conference championships - 18 of them under legendary head coach Jim Sochor - will remain for the time being in the Big Sky Conference at the Football Championship Subdivision level, but the vast majority of UCD sports are now fully functioning members of the Mountain West.
Before looking ahead at what’s to come, a look back is appropriate to examine the century-long highlights of those sports that will now compete in the Mountain West.
For the Aggie women, that means basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, soccer, softball, swim and dive, tennis and volleyball.
For the Aggie men, the new competition features basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, outdoor track and field, soccer and tennis.
All of those sports have had their moments in the sun in the previous century.
It’s hard to top the four national championships the women’s tennis team accomplished, with the first two coming at the Division III level in the old Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1980 and 1981.
The latter two were at the NCAA Division II level in 1990 and 1993.
In 2014 longtime women’s tennis head coach Bill Maze was inducted into the United States Tennis Association Northern California Hall of Fame, celebrating his contributions to the game both as a player and a coach.
Maze played alongside John McEnroe at Stanford and later competed professionally.
From 1973 through 1992, the Aggie women ran the table with 123 consecutive conference wins.
UC Davis men’s tennis, of course, had a long string of successes of its own, highlighted by an NCAA Division II team national championship in 1992 under head coach John Nelson and individual singles championships by Tim Monroe in 1976 and Mark Segesta in 1993.
Steve Summer and Jeff McCann claimed the national doubles title in 1992, while Segesta teamed with Dave Allen for a doubles crown in 1991.
The men’s tennis foundation was built in 1967 under head coach George Stromgren when UCD won its first-ever Far Western Conference championship.
In 1968 the Aggies captured the NCAA West Regional crown under head coach Will Lotter and made the program’s first NCAA championship appearance in Fort Worth, where UCD finished seventh in the nation. Mike Talmadge earned All-American honors.
Under current head coach Eric Steidlmayer, UCD won its first Big West tennis championship in 2015, then ranked No. 49 in the country the following year.
Aggie baseball came to prominence under head coach Phil Swimley, with Division II World Series appearances in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1995 and 2003 finishing tied for fifth both times.
Moving into Division I in 2008, UCD qualified for the postseason, upsetting host Stanford, 4-2, in regional play and finishing the year at 35-24.
Former Aggie infielder Daniel Descalso now wears a Major League World Series ring for his stellar play when the St. Louis Cardinals won it all in 2011. Descalso hit .667 in the Series.
Speaking of national championships, the 1998 Aggie men’s basketball team claimed a Division II national championship with an 83-77 win over Kentucky Wesleyan to finish the year 31-2 under Bob Williams.
Current UC Davis assistant Kevin Nosek was a member of that 1998 team.
The Aggies thus became the first and only non-scholarship team to win the national championship as they ran off four straight conference titles under Williams.
Moving to Division I in the Big West under Jim Les, the Aggies beat UC Irvine, 50-47, to qualify for March Madness in 2017.
Women’s basketball has been a long-term success.
In 2011, Sandy Simpson’s final year as head coach, the Aggies qualified for the NCAA tournament by winning the Big West.
Under current head coach Jennifer Gross, the Aggies won five straight Big West titles from 2017 through 2021, with Gross being named Coach of the Year each time.
In 19 Big West seasons, the Aggies have never failed to qualify for the Big West tournament.
Led by All-American Jade Light, volleyball enjoyed perhaps its best season ever with a Big West championship in 2025.
Light, a senior hitter, was recognized as one of the top 100 Division I volleyball players in the country.
Coach Dan Conners passed Kathy DeYoung as the all-time winningest Aggie coach in volleyball. DeYoung had several conference championships in Division II.
This past season, the Aggie softball team had its best run in the Big West to qualify for the conference tournament.
In 2010, UCD qualified for its lone Division I postseason appearance, earning a berth in the Los Angeles regional.
Softball has had 15 members elected to the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame, making it among the best represented women’s teams.
Gymnastics, meanwhile, qualified for the 2025 NCAA regionals for only the second time in school history and celebrated its 50th anniversary as a team in 2026.
The cross country program has sent four runners to the NCAA championships, with Bri Weidler (2022 and 2023) leading the way along with Kim Conley (2008), Kaitlin Gregg (2008) and Jonathan Peterson (2010 and 2011).
Peterson was awarded All-American honors after finishing 14th overall in the meet hosted by Indiana State.
The UCD women’s golf team has four times made it through the NCAA regionals to compete for the national championship in 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2015, with the best finish an 11th place in 2015.
In the 2016 Stanford regional, Andrea Wong placed first at four-under par.
Overall, the Aggies have claimed six Big West championships and crowned six Big West individual champions.
The men’s golf team had the ultimate thrill of winning the 1979 Division II national championship on its home El Macero Country Club course under coach Joe Carlson.
It was the first national title for UC Davis in any sport.
Scott Gordon, who finished his career in 2004 with what was then a school record scoring average of 71.54, became the first UC Davis golfer to earn a PGA Tour card, a feat he accomplished in 2010.
Since joining Division I, the Aggie women’s swimming and diving team won a 2010 championship in the Big West before moving to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with titles in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Retiring dive coach Phil Tonne, who spent over 20 years guiding the Aggies, earned Big West Co-Diving Coach of the Year in 2026.
UCD’s men’s soccer team has been a consistent power in the Big West, taking the 2024 title behind the strong play of Cason Goodman, who was named as the Big West Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Former Aggie Max Arfsten is a member of the 2026 U.S. World Cup team. Arfsten was named Big West Offensive Player of the Year in 2021.
The women’s soccer team enjoyed its best Division II success with a 15-4-1 mark in 1996.
After moving to Division I, the 2024 team went 13-5-2 as Sam Tristan became the first Aggie to be named Big West Offensive Player of the Year.
The Aggies have had many standout performers over the years in both men’s and women’s track and field.
Anthony Terry got the parade started by winning the NCAA Division II triple jump title in both 1973 and 1974, while Patti Gray took national crowns in the 3,000 in 1982, the 5,000 in 1982 and the 10,000 in 1983.
After transitioning to Division I, UCD has picked up 17 All-American honors, highlighted by Ashley Hearn in the discus, Erinn Beattie in the high jump and Dani Barrett in the 10,000 meters.
In an incredible feat of excellence, the UC Davis women’s track and field program has picked up two NCAA Woman of the Year Awards, with Jamila Demby winning in 1999 and Tanisha Silas taking the honor in 2002.
The program’s elite training has consistently propelled student-athletes onto the global stage, highlighted by multi-time All-American Erinn Beattie winning a bronze medal for Team USA at the 2019 NACAC U23 Championships, Thomas Phillips capturing a gold medal for Great Britain on the 4x400 relay team at the 2011 European U23 Championships and Ashley Hearn advancing to compete in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.
To top it all off, an incredible 280 Aggies were named to the Big West 2025-26 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for academic excellence.
All in all, a fitting goodbye to the Big West as UC Davis faces its first year of competition in the powerful Mountain West.
The conference may have changed.
But the goal to compete at the highest level while maintaining the cherished student-athlete model has remained the same.
Thanks Bob.
I was getting worried that you were going to neglect mentioning Joe Carlson. An absolute great person.
Many of my favorite childhood memories involve UCD athletics.