Moments that made 2016 great

FRESNO, Calif. – There were many moments that made 2016 great for Fresno State Athletics, GoBulldogs.com highlights 16 that stood out from the rest.

• February 20, 2016: Swimmer Ugne Mazutaityte wins gold in the 200-yard backstroke Mountain West championship final with a Fresno State record time of 1:54.47; the MW Freshman of the Year would later advance to become the first Fresno State freshman swimmer to ever compete at the NCAA Championships.

• March 1, 2016: Fresno State officially announces it will integrate wrestling and water polo into its intercollegiate athletics programs. The two sports are the 20th and 21st NCAA Division I sanctioned sports under the Department of Athletics' umbrella.

• March 12, 2016: Men's basketball wins the Mountain West Tournament Championship with a 68-63 win over San Diego State and advances to its first NCAA tournament since 2001.

• April 5, 2016: The women's basketball season came to a close with the reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Bego Faz Davalos as the nation's leading shot blocker with 136 for the season (4.0 per game).

• April 13, 2016: The men's and women's cross country teams, women's golf, women's soccer and women's tennis teams are publicly recognized by the NCAA for achieving the highest possible APR score with a perfect mark of 1,000.

• April 23, 2016: Women's tennis earns the regular season Mountain West championship by defeating Nevada 7-0. The team pushed their regular-season conference win streak to 17 matches behind six individuals that earned postseason MW honors, including Player of the Year Mayar Ahmed.

• April 24, 2016: Men's golfer Trevor Clayton wins Mountain West Individual Championship after firing a 54-hole 9-under-par 207 (66-72-69). Clayton was the first Bulldog to win an individual conference championship since Grant Doverspike won the 2007 WAC title.

• May 1, 2016: Softball clinches second-straight Mountain West title and secured the school's 32nd appearance in the NCAA tournament with the help from later-to-be-named Mountain West Player of the Year (Kierra Willis), Pitcher of the Year (Jill Compton), Defensive Player of the Year (Paige Gumz) and Coach of the Year (Trisha Ford).

• May 14, 2016: The women's track and field team posted its best finish (third) in a Mountain West Championship in program history; the team was paced by MW individual titles from Kayla Hopkins (discus), Njeri Omawahleh (400m), Annemarie Schwanz (1500m), Je'Nia Sears (long jump) and the women's 4x400m relay team.

• May 20, 2016: Guided by Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year (Jimmy Lambert) and Coach of the Year (Mike Batesole), baseball wins its first regular season conference title since winning the WAC in 2011

• June 17, 2016: Fresno State Athletics receives $1.5 million lead gift to launch Bulldog Stadium fundraising campaign.

• July 8, 2016: A record-setting 82 Fresno State student-athletes earned Mountain West Scholar-Athlete honors. To be eligible, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms, maintained a 3.5 cumulative grade point average or better and have participated in a Mountain West sponsored varsity competition.

• October 7, 2016: Equestrian defeats reigning national champion, No. 1 Auburn, 11-5.

• October 14, 2016: Fresno State Athletics names AECOM as the architectural firm for the Bulldog Stadium modernization project.

• November 10, 2016: Jeff Tedford is introduced as the 19th head football coach in program history.

• December 7, 2016: Football's Jacob Vazquez is named an academic all-American, becoming the seventh Bulldog football player to earn the distinction and third in the last five years.

And a 17th bonus highlight as we close the year and look to 2017:

• December 27, 2016: $2.6 million facelift project on Warmerdam Field is completed.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.

Moments that made 2016 great

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