Maggie the Aggie and Cori Shine Alongside Football’s Home Opener Win

News
Maggie the Aggie rides onto football field
Communications major Nicole Shroyer, who competes in reining for the equestrian team, rides out onto the football field as Maggie the Aggie on Sept. 7. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)

Tim Plough earned his first career win at the helm of the UC Davis football team at its home opener against Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday (Sept. 7) as the Aggies prevailed against the Lions, 36-22.

Also on display were twists on familiar attractions, like Cori the kickoff tee-retrieving dog being helped by a student athlete and a student making her debut in the role of Maggie the Aggie. 

Connections abound

Dog wearing football jersey sniffs horse being held by student
“Cori got to meet Red too… she was unsure about the big dog (horse),” Lisa Tell said. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
Student wearing UC Davis baseball t-shirt holds black labrador retriever
 Jason Hanson — history major, baseball player, temporary dog handler. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)

Cori, the Labrador retriever owned by Lisa Tell ’87, DVM ’91, a professor of medicine and epidemiology in the School of Veterinary Medicine, is scheduled to retrieve kickoff tees at every regular season home game this year. In her season debut, she got help from Jason Hanson, a history major and baseball player. Cori has also retrieved bats at baseball games.

Jason did a fantastic job at the game,” Tell said. “He was a real natural and she was super comfortable with him since she knows him well.

Tell said she appreciates that Cori is growing even more connected to campus sports, with familiar student-athletes like baseball players and returning kicker Angelo Genetti.

Cori will take the field again at the Sept. 21 football game against Utah Tech. Kickoff for that game, which carries a back to school theme, is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Another Aggie who made a splash at last week’s game was Maggie the Aggie, the student in Western regalia who leads the team out — on horseback — before home games. This year, junior communications major and equestrian team member Nicole Shroyer will take over in the role.

Kendal Scheiner, who served as Maggie the Aggie last season, has graduated but is still spending time on campus as the equestrian team’s reining coach.

“I’ve always watched Kendal do it and it always looked so cool,” Shroyer said, adding that she was especially excited for the community aspect of the role, as Maggie the Aggie and her horse pose for photos with fans on the concourse of UC Davis Health Stadium. 

Student wearing Western regalia poses for photo with young child
Maggie the Aggie (communications major Nicole Shroyer) poses for a photo with a young UC Davis fan. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)

Shroyer and Scheiner knew each other before coming to UC Davis — the two grew up on the same street in Novato and attended the same high school a few years apart, Shroyer said.

She praised the work of her horse, a 12-year-old Quarter Horse named Red, in their debut.

“My horse was not scared of anything and did great,” Shroyer said. “It felt great to ride out on the field.”

NEXT HOME GAMES

  • Saturday, Sept. 21 — 7 p.m. kickoff vs Utah Tech (Back To School Day)
  • Saturday, Sept. 28 — 7 p.m. kickoff vs University of Idaho (First Year Field Storm and celebration of Chicanx & Latinx Heritage Month)

Season tickets, group tickets, two- or three-game “mini plans” and individual tickets are available online, by calling the Aggie Ticket Office at 530-752-2471 or by email.

UC Davis Athletics contributed to this report.

Media Resources

Cody Kitaura is the editor of Dateline UC Davis and can be reached by email or at 530-752-1932.

Primary Category

Secondary Categories

Dateline

Tags