Sprinter Melanise Chapman's two victories helped the UC Davis women win their first Big West Conference track and field championship earlier this month.

But she's not done. After winning conference titles in the 100 and 200 meters, Chapman is one of 13 Aggies who qualified for this week's NCAA West Preliminary Meet in Austin, Texas.

The three-day meet starts Thursday and is a prelude to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, starting June 6.

Chapman will run only in the 100, in which she holds the school record of 11.67 seconds. She set the mark last year and tied it this season.

But she is not concerned about her time. She wants to do well and reach her goal of advancing to the NCAA Championships.

"I don't like to think about numbers," the junior said. "I've just got to trust in my training, trust in what my coach told me, and it will happen. A (personal record) would be nice, but I don't want to go into the meet thinking about that."

The Aggies' Sarah Sumpter was named the Big West women's track Athlete of the Year after winning the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the conference meet. She will run the 10,000 in Austin.

"What she's accomplished is a great testament to the power of perseverance and will," said UC Davis' Drew Wartenburg, who was named the Big West Coach of the Year.

"She has and knows one way to do things. At this point in her career, she's earned the right to be able to control her own race strategies. We're running the 10K, dropping the 5 and hoping that can be the ticket to a national stage for her."

Ashley Hearn qualified after winning the conference title in the discus, and Alycia Cridebring qualified in the 5,000 (she won the 1,500 at the conference meet).

On the men's side, Jonathan Peterson won the 1,500 and 5,000 at the conference meet. He will compete in the 5,000 with NCAA-meet aspirations.

Sacramento State qualified 15 athletes for the West Regional, including six Big Sky Conference champions: Ify Agwuenu (shot put), Natalia Wright (long jump and triple jump), Alicia Truesdale (100 hurdles), Baiba Celma (heptathlon but will compete in the triple jump), Paul Lyons (110 hurdles) and Zach Coniglio (shot put).

Agwuenu was named the Big Sky women's MVP, and Kathleen Raske won her 12th conference Coach of the Year award (six indoor, six outdoor).

The Hornets won their fifth consecutive women's outdoor conference title.

Softball – UC Davis' Justine Vela, the Big West Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year, also was named to the All-Pacific Region second team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Vela was 20-13 with a 2.10 ERA. She led the conference with 272 strikeouts (15th nationally) and held opponents to a .206 batting average.

UC Davis catcher Rachel Miller also made the all-conference first team after leading the Aggies with 26 RBIs.

Sac State catcher Marissa Navarro was named to the All-Pacific Region second team. The senior led the Hornets with a .349 batting average, eight home runs and 42 RBIs.

The Pacific Region consists of teams from the Big West, Mountain West, Pacific Coast Softball, Pacific-12 and Western Athletic conferences.

Baseball – Sac State's Derrick Chung last week was named as one of 12 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award given to the top collegiate catcher.

Chung has thrown out 15 runners and picked off seven. Offensively, the senior is hitting .346.

The winner will be announced June 28.

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