With Max Arfsten playing for the USMNT soccer team I have pondered the UCD male Mount Rushmore for post UC Davis athletic career:

Here are my 4, in my order. With a short list of honorable mentions.

Dave Scott Triathlon

Aggie Era: 1971–1975 (Water Polo and Swimming)
Pro Highlights: 6x Ironman World Champion, First Ironman Hall of Fame Inductee Nicknamed "The Man," Scott took his collegiate aquatic endurance to the extreme post-graduation. He completely dominated the early era of the sport of triathlon, winning the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii six times (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1987). He was the first person ever to be inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame and is widely considered one of the greatest endurance athletes of all time. He dropped his time at Kona by 2 hours and set course records for the individual events the swim, the bike and the marathon. First athlete to break the 9 hours in a full Ironman. His times hold up very well even with such improvements in equipment. At 40 placed 2nd at Kona.


Ken O’Brien Football

Aggie Era: 1980–1982
Pro Highlights: 2x NFL Pro Bowler, 1985 NFL Passing Leader O'Brien is arguably the most successful traditional team-sports athlete in UC Davis history. Selected 24th overall in the famous 1983 NFL Draft (alongside John Elway and Dan Marino), he spent 10 seasons as the starting quarterback for the New York Jets. He threw for over 25,000 yards in his career and was the first quarterback in NFL history to finish a game with a perfect 158.3 passer rating while throwing for over 400 yards.
I watched him at UCD and made a huge call that he was NOT tough enough to be in the NFL. He set a NFL record for the most sacks by a QB as he was pounded into the astro turf where the Jets played.

Scott Weltz Swimming

Aggie Era: 2006-2010
Pro Highlights: Winner 2012 Olympic Trials champion in a meet record. 5th place finish at the London Olympics. 2013 US open winner and open meet record. Not a long career but winning at the biggest domestic meet in 4 years with a meet record is amazing.

Urijah "The California Kid" Faber (Wrestling / MMA)

Aggie Era: 2000–2003
Pro Highlights: WEC Featherweight Champion, UFC Hall of Famer , Faber transitioned to mixed martial arts and became a pioneer for lighter weight classes globally. As the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) Featherweight Champion, he became one of the sport's biggest pay-per-view draws. He competed at the highest level of the UFC for years, earned multiple title shots, and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017.

Honorable Mentions:
Daniel Descalso MLB Baseball.
Bo Eason NFL safety
Rolf Benirschke, NFL kicker,
Max Arfsten 2026 USMNT & Columbus Crew MSL