UCD roundup: Aggie gymnasts vault to new heights, again

Senior Katie Yamamura tied her own school all-around record of 39.325 while junior Anna Shumaker hit the 39-point barrier for a second straight week, helping UC Davis reset its overall team record score to 195.625. The Aggies won the meet by nearly eight-tenths of a point ahead of Causeway rival Sacramento State, which finished second with a 194.875. Air Force took third at 193.400.

UCD evens its dual record to 11-11.

Besides the No. 1 team score, the Aggies posted all-time top-10 totals on each event. The vaulters opened with a 48.775, tied for sixth in school history. The uneven bars crew followed with a 48.925, fourth all-time, then the beam team barely missed the Aggie benchmark at 48.775. Finally, the floor squad posted a 49.150, good for seventh in program history.

For Yamamura’s part, she tied her season high with a 9.875 on vault in the opening rotation, stuck a 9.825 on bars in the second, posted a 9.775 on beam in the third, then matched her season best of 9.850 on floor to finish the meet. Her 39.325 ties the benchmark she first set two weeks prior against Sacramento State.

Shumaker’s 39.000 in the all-around made her just the second Aggie to hit that threshold more than once, following the 39.050 a week ago at San Jose State’s home finale. She scored 9.700 on vault, 9.750 on bars, 9.725 on beam then hit a personal-best 9.825 on floor in the final rotation.

UCD baseball

Harry Stanwyck pitched seven solid innings as visiting UC Davis beat Seattle University 7-4 in the opener, while Kevin Barker and Seth Batty each had two hits in a tough 10-9 loss in the nightcap, as the Aggies and Redhawks split a nonconference doubleheader on Friday.

Stanwyck paced UCD in the opener, scattering eight hits while allowing just three earned runs in his seven innings of action. He had two strikeouts and three walks. Stanwyck improved to 1-2 with the win.

The Aggies gave him all the run support he would need with single runs in the first and third innings, and two runs in both the fourth and sixth. Nick Lynch and Patterson each had RBI singles for the first two runs while Evan Heptig’s sacrifice fly helped highlight the fourth inning. Mike Mazzara’s single to center helped account for the two-run sixth.

UCD trailed 3-0 in the second game but picked up two runs in the fourth on a single by Lynch and also a wild pitch that allowed Paul Politi to cross, making it 3-2.

Down 4-2 heading into the seventh, the Aggies put five runs on the board on five hits to take a 7-4 lead. Batty had an RBI double, John Williams tied the game with a single, and Politi singled up the middle for two more, giving the Aggies the lead. Steven Patterson’s RBI single capped the scoring.

UCD diving

Freshmen Lucy Lafranchise and Hanna Tears had solid day-two rounds at the Zone E Diving Regional at the U.S. Air Force Academy in the 1-meter preliminaries in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Lafranchise recorded a 225.65 on six dives to finish 39th, and Tears posted a 188.00 to finish 49th.

UCD women’s lacrosse

Senior midfielder Hannah Mirza tallied five goals while senior Elizabeth Datino added three goals and two assists to lead a well-balanced Aggie effort in a 14-10 win over Iona at Aggie Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Both teams move to 2-5 for the season.

Besides the goals totals by Mirza and Datino, sophomore Meghan Jordan tallied four assists and freshman Mary Doyle picked up five draw controls for UCD. Sophomore defender Sara Quero posted eight ground balls, all in the Aggies’ backfield.

For the Gaels, senior attacker Kylie Gregory scored four goals. This game also held a family connection, as starting Iona defender Lauren Henwood is the younger sister of first-year Aggie head coach Kate Henwood. The younger Henwood posted a ground ball and draw control for Iona.

UCD women’s tennis

By winning two of three doubles matches and five of six singles contests, the Aggies maintained their perfect record against Cal State Fullerton by defeating the Titans 6-1 at Titan Tennis Courts on Saturday afternoon.

Since joining the Big West Conference, UCD has defeated Cal State Fullerton in every head-to-head dual match played.

The Aggies (6-8 overall, 2-1 BWC) captured the doubles point with an 8-5 win earned by Ellie Edles and Tiffany Pham over Tifany Mai and Monica Rodriguez, the final match to finish in the doubles round. Megan Heneghan and Melissa Kobayakawa were the first to finish, earning an 8-2 victory over Rebekkah Ermaca and Megan Sandford.

On Friday, UCD fell 4-0 to No. 23 UC Irvine.

Heneghan faced No. 101 Kristina Smith, her first ranked opponent this season, in No. 1 singles action. Heneghan tested Smith throughout the entire match before Smith pulled away toward the latter portions of the set to record a point for Irvine.

UCD track and field

Sparked by school records in the women’s 200-meter dash and 4×100 relay, a first place in the 1,500, and a pair of wins from the men, the Aggie track and field teams entered their bye week in strong fashion after competing well at Sacramento State’s Hornet Invitational on Saturday.

Sophomore Ashley Marshall broke teammate Melanise Chapman’s Aggie record in the 200, finishing second on Saturday in 24.02 seconds while making her first appearance on the program’s all-time list. Chapman, who entered the meet with the record at 24.09, actually broke her own record first after finishing her heat in 24.04. Marshall then lowered it in the following heat. Chapman finished third overall.

Both Aggie standouts had a part in the other school record as well, forming half of UCD’s second-place 4×100 relay, which was timed in 45.26. Leslie Reed and Cekarri Nixon also were in on the record effort. That was well under the previous record of 45.77 set by Stephanie Eckels, Nicole Theus, Laura Rombach and Ugo Eke in 2007.

The Aggie men were paced by a pair of first-place performances on Saturday. Cody Nguyen was victorious in the 800, crossing in 1:55.21, while the 4×400 relay of Corey Hobbs, Karl Moran, Caine Harder and Shane Ryan won its event in 3:17.11.

UCD women’s water polo

The Aggies lost a pair of one-goal matches in Saturday’s portion of the Aztec Invitational at the San Diego State Aquaplex. The Aggies lost to Princeton 6-5, then fell to UC San Diego, 7-6.

The Aggies, who have lost five straight, slip to 10-14 for the year.

In Saturday’s opener, five different Aggies scored one goal apiece as UCD saw its 3-2 halftime lead wither to a 5-3 deficit when Princeton scored three unanswered goals in the third quarter. Carmen Eggert and Keelia Houston boosted the Aggies to a 2-1 lead through the first period. Sophomore Ashley Hatcher equalized for the Tigers at the 5:11 mark in the second but Paige Oreglia put UCD back on top just after the 2-minute mark before halftime.

Senior Jessica Dunn closed the gap to 5-4 early in the fourth quarter but the Aggies never climbed out of the red. Tiger senior center Saranna Soroka hit her second goal with 2:30 left in the game to extend her team’s lead to two. UCD’s Alex Rawlinson brought the game to its final tally of 6-5 with her goal at 0:32.

In the afternoon matchup, the Aggies led 2-1 at halftime and 3-2 early in the third before three different Tritons scored in succession to give UCSD a 5-3 lead. Eggert scored with three minutes left in the first and senior center Danelle Kenny delivered the go-ahead goal a minute into the second to provide UCD with its initial advantage. Then Triton defender Allison Delgado scored at the 3:57 mark in the third quarter to launch a run of three straight goals during the next two minutes.

Dunn netted a goal in the final seconds of the third to cut the margin to one, but UCD was unable to even the score. Freshman Julia Kirkland and junior Leah Gonzalez added two in the fourth. Aggie center Hannah Curran scored at the 5-minute mark and Eggert completed her 19th career hat trick with 3:15 left, both times closing the gap to one goal.