UC Davis experts: Division I

The following UC Davis staff and faculty members are available to speak on topics related to Division I athletics:

• Administering a Division I school
• NCAA compliance
• Academics and athletics
• Directing a Division I athletics program
• Marketing a DivisionI athletics program
• Student-athletes, challenges of Division I, football
• Ethics and intercollegiate athletics, basketball
• Pressures of competition, track and field
• Psychology of sports and team dynamics
• Strength and conditioning

Administering a Division I school

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef says UC Davis is committed to "a model intercollegiate athletics program that is centered on the student-athlete and teacher-coach. Aggie student-athletes will continue to succeed in the arena where it counts the most -- the classroom." As chancellor, Vanderhoef is ultimately responsible for the campus's compliance with all laws and regulations, including NCAA rules and federal Title IX regulations. Vanderhoef has served as chancellor since 1994. He first came to UC Davis in 1984 as executive vice chancellor, after four years as provost at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has a doctorate in plant biochemistry from Purdue University, along with bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Contact: Maril Stratton, Offices of the Chancellor and Provost, (530) 752-9566, .

NCAA compliance

Nona Richardson, the senior associate athletic director/senior woman administrator, has direct responsibility for overseeing all facets of compliance, student academic support services, sports medicine, strength and conditioning programs and five sports programs. Richardson came to UC Davis earlier this year from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. She has 28 years of intercollegiate athletics experience as a student-athlete, coach and administrator. "Throughout my entire athletic career," Richardson says, "I've been immersed in all rules and regulations related to athletics." Contact: Nona Richardson, Intercollegiate Athletics, (530) 752-8669, .

Academics and athletics

Professor Kim Elsbach of the Graduate School of Management is the faculty athletics representative at UC Davis. "My primary role is to protect the academic mission of the campus and make sure academic goals and ideals are not forgotten in athletics decision-making," said the professor of organizational behavior. Elsbach is UC Davis' representative to the Big West Conference and its appointed delegate to the conventions and other NCAA activities. Among other responsibilities, she certifies eligibility for all student athletes for conference and NCAA competition, practice and financial aid. A member of the athletics administrative advisory committee since 2003, Elsbach is an active master's swimmer, marathon runner and triathlete. She was a member of the varsity swim team at the University of Iowa. Contact: Kim Elsbach, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-0910, .

Directing a Division I athletics program

Under Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka, UC Davis has captured six Division II Directors' Cups as the most outstanding overall athletic program in the country. Warzecka has overseen UC Davis' transition into two conferences: in 1998, the Aggies moved from the now-defunct Northern California Athletic Conference to the California Collegiate Athletic Association, and, in 2003, the UC Davis program announced that it would join the Big West Conference, making the move from Division II to Division I. Before turning to administration, Warzecka had been a successful baseball coach, first as an assistant at his alma mater, UC Berkeley, then as head coach at San Francisco State University, and then at the University of Chicago, where he also served his first post as a director of men's athletics. Contact: Amie Smith, assistant to the athletics director, (530) 752-4557, .

Marketing a DivisionI athletics program

Larry Swanson is associate athletics director for external affairs, overseeing the marketing, promotions and media relations for Intercollegiate Athletics' 26 varsity sports. Swanson helped create the Aggie Pack, one of the nation's largest undergraduate student spirit organizations with nearly 10,000 members. Under his supervision, UC Davis Athletics Marketing and Promotion has won several national awards while creating a distinct "home-court advantage" for Aggie teams. Corporate sponsorships have also grown during his more than 20 years with UC Davis Athletics, from $5,000 to nearly $2 million. Contact: Larry Swanson, Intercollegiate Athletics, (530) 752-8609, .

Student-athletes, challenges of Division I, football

Bob Biggs began the 2007-08 season as the second-winningest football coach in UC Davis history. Biggs, whose career record through 14 seasons as head coach is 114-48-1, is a firm believer in the concept of the student-athlete: "They can be competitive and play to win and earn a degree with meaning that provides opportunity over and above playing athletics." In 1993 and 2000, Biggs was named American Football Coaches Association's Region 5 College Division Coach of the Year. In 2002, he won Coach of the Year honors for the inaugural Independent Football Alliance. Biggs, a member of the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame, was an Associated Press Little All-American his senior year, in 1972. Biggs played professionally with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and the Portland Storm of the World Football League. He also spent time in the training camp of the NFL's Denver Broncos. Contact: Mike Robles, Intercollegiate Athletics, (530) 752-3680, .

Ethics and intercollegiate athletics, basketball

In his four years coaching men's basketball at UC Davis, Gary Stewart has focused on both the academic and athletic goals of his student-athletes. Stewart, who serves on the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) Board of Directors and its Ethics Committee, came to UC Davis from UCLA, where he assisted then-coach Steve Lavin as director of basketball services during the 2002-03 season. His duties with the Bruins included recruiting, promotions, compliance and community relations. In all, Stewart has 25 years of experience as a player, assistant coach and head coach at all three levels (Division I, II and III) of NCAA basketball. Contact: John McMahon, Intercollegiate Athletics, (530) 752-2663, .

Pressures of competition, track and field

UC Davis women's track-and-field coach Deanne Vochatzer has the distinction of having been named the head coach of the U.S. women's track-and-field team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She is a consultant for Nike, the National High School Coaches Association and the U.S. Justice Department on alcohol and drug education for athletics, and has commentated for ESPN. She served as director of competition for the 2000 track-and-field Olympic trials in Sacramento and was inducted into the U.S. Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002. Contact: Deanne Vochatzer, Track, (530) 752-5057, .

Psychology of sports and team dynamics

Paul Salitsky, a UC Davis lecturer in exercise biology, studies the psychological aspects of sports and exercise. He specializes in sport and exercise psychology, sport sociology and motor learning, and has coached women's volleyball at the international, club and NCAA Division I level. Salitsky has conducted more than 250 clinics and workshops on the mental skills needed for performance success. A certified consultant for the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Salitsky has been listed on the U.S. Olympic Committee's Sport Psychology Registry since 2000. Also in 2000, he was selected to join the Sport Psychology Committee for USA Track & Field. Salitsky's recent research interests have been in the area of exercise and mental skills training for cancer patients and survivors; in 2002, he survived a case of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Contact: Paul Salitsky, Exercise Biology, (530) 752-3381, .

Strength and conditioning

Former Olympian Andy Bloom was recently named UC Davis' first full-time strength and conditioning coach, a nod to the more demanding Division I competition. He will assist all 26 varsity sports. A member of the UC Davis coaching staff since 2000, he joined the Aggie program as an assistant track-and-field coach, working with UC Davis shot-put and discus throwers, and continued in that role until last year. Prior to coming to UC Davis, Bloom was an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee. The highlight of Bloom's track-and-field career was a fourth-place finish in the shot put at the Sydney Games in 2000. He is also a two-time U.S. Indoor champion in the shot put, finished first in the event at the 2000 World Grand Prix and 1999 World University Games and placed fourth in the shot put at the 1999 World Championships. He was a two-time Academic All-America selection while a student at Wake Forest University, where he earned NCAA Division I titles in 1996 in both the shot put and discus. Contact: Mike Robles, Intercollegiate Athletics, (530) 752-3680, .

Media contacts:

• Mitchel Benson, News Service, (530) 752-9844, .

• Mike Robles, Intercollegiate Athletics, (530) 752-3680, .

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