Volume 29 · Number 1 · Fall 2011
Sports: Legacy for student-athletes
Dakotah Mohr
To see the real-life impacts of the Greg Warzecka era in Aggie athletics, look to the everyday experiences of student-athletes.
Take, for example, Dakotah Mohr, a member of the women's water polo team, a three-time all-conference honoree and a 2009 honorable-mention All-American. Women's water polo — one of the five women's sports that attained varsity status during Warzecka's tenure — competes in the Big West Conference.
Mohr trains and competes at the Schaal Aquatics Center, a venue funded by the 1999 Facilities and Campus Enhancement Initiative and a $1.4 million lead donation from Rand Schaal, '73, Ph.D. '91, and his father, Ted.
"Home games are great," said Mohr, "and it's not just because of the stands. We play in a facility we trust. I'm proud to invite people to our games. I'm proud to host other teams, like this next year when we host the conference tournament."
Choosing the Aggies
One key reason Mohr decided to attend UC Davis over UC Berkeley was that she saw, under Warzecka, an expanding program full of opportunities for student-athletes.
She is a graduate of Davis Senior High School, where she earned prep All-America honors for four straight years, including first-team accolades as a junior and senior and membership on the U.S. Youth National Team. While Mohr was in high school, Aggie women's water polo moved from Hickey Pool to the new Schaal Aquatics Center in the midst of the Division I transition.
By November of her senior year, Mohr signed a National Letter of Intent, a voluntary agreement indicating that she planned to attend UC Davis and that the university would provide financial aid. Another hallmark of the Warzecka era, the letter of intent is part of an athletics grant-in-aid program, which he announced in 1997 and implemented the following year.
Collegiate water polo combines the three NCAA divisions into one large field of teams, so the move to Division I — arguably Warzecka's magnum opus — played less of a role in Mohr's recruitment than it might have for others. Nevertheless, Mohr said that D-I status has enriched her experience as an Aggie.
"I am proud to go to a Division I school … it had an impact in my decision to come here. It piqued my interest a bit more. I don't know if I would have, had UC Davis stayed Division II," she said.
Now starting her senior year, Mohr takes pride in showing UC Davis and its athletics resources to visiting recruits, especially Davis Senior High students.
"They look in the weight room and say, 'Wow, you lift weights in there?' They see the training room and all of the people there to help, and that the facilities and tutoring are great," she said.
Mohr added, "It's all part of what has helped my overall experience."
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