Cal Poly Track and Field opened its outdoor season at the Bulldog Invite, hosted by Fresno State on Friday, March 7, and the Ben Brown Invite on Saturday, March 8, where the distance runners competed.
It was a successful weekend for the Mustangs, who set personal records across the board and were highlighted by a school record shattered in the hammer throw.
Throwing squad shines at Bulldog Invite
Before the outdoor season, Cal Poly competed in four indoor events at the University of Washington in order to prepare the team for the upcoming outdoor meets.
Within those meets, Junior Rory Devaney shined, breaking his own school record in the weight throw twice, and finishing with the 30th best throw in the country.
At the Bulldog Invite on Saturday, March 18, he picked up right where he left off.
Devaney began the outdoor season by breaking his teammate senior Travis Martin’s program record in the men’s hammer throw with a personal best toss of 223 feet that was enough to win the event. Martin wasn’t far behind with a second-place toss of 220 feet, 7 inches.
Devaney also grabbed first in the men’s discus, solidifying the ongoing dominance of Cal Poly’s throwing team, continuing from last season where they ranked as high as No. 9 and No. 18 in the men’s hammer throw and javelin respectively.
Senior Colby Neron also made history, becoming the third Mustang ever to record a javelin throw over 70-meters (70.38).
In the women’s hammer, senior Anna Grexton (171 feet) and freshman Brooklyn Eperly (146 feet, 2 inches) recorded top-10 marks in school history to cap off the meet.
On the track, Cal Poly’s women won both the 4×100 (46.07) and 4×400 (4:03.66) relays. Freshman Tayhlore Hoagland had a strong debut, capturing victory in the 100-meter and long jump events.
Overall, the Cal Poly women won ten events, and the men won six in a meet full of great performances.
Ben Brown Invite
Cal Poly’s distance team traveled to Fullerton to compete in the Ben Brown invite over the weekend.
Many athletes finished with personal bests, highlighted by redshirt junior Michael Chambers, who placed fourth In the men’s 5,000-meter, with a personal best run of 14:01.96. Chambers was just two seconds off of the No. 10 time in the event in school history.
Cal Poly will have a short break before hosting the Mark Conover Classic at Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex on Saturday, Mar. 22.
Full results
Ben Brown Invite
WOMEN
1,500-meter: 7, Sydney Sundgren, 4:36.57. 11, Melisse Djomby Enyawe, 4:41.27. 20, Renae Searls, 4:47.22.
5,000-meter: 12, Lianna Guerra, 17:03.35. 16, Isabel Sanchez, 17:15.49. 18, Ashlyn Leath, 17:21.74.
MEN
5,000-meter: 4, Michael Chambers, 14:01.96. 7, Bryce Kueker, 14:07.17. 8, Dheeraj Gurusamy, 14:08.88. 11, Micah Grossman, 14:18.45. 14, Rory Catsimanes, 14:19.54. 16, Anthony Guerra, 14:23.00. 20, Aiden Aldana, 14:28.18. 32, Teg Pandher, 14:36.85. 34, Devin Ibarra, 14:37.64. 36, Tyler Downs, 14:41.27.
Bulldog Invite
WOMEN
100-meter: 1, Tayhlore Hoagland, 12.43. 3, Madison Easter, 12.55. 4, Ava Fortier, 12.57.
200-meter: 1, Ava Simos, 24.99.
100-meter hurdles: 1, Kaira Burrage, 15.09. 3, Eva Brandenburg.
400-meter hurdles: 1, Avery Adelman, 1:02.94.
4×100-meter relay: 1, Cal Poly (Melody Nwagwu, Madison Easter, Ava Fortier, Ava Simos), 46.07.
4×400-meter relay: 1, Cal Poly (Kaira Burrage, Emma Vogt, Eva Brandenburg, Avery Adelman), 4:03.66.
High jump: 1, Melanie Castelli, 5-7.25. 2, Lariel Henley, 5-5.25. 3, Chase Kubinski, 5-5.25. 4, Maia Garcia, 5-3.25.
Pole vault: 1, Lexi Evans, 12-1.5. 2, Avery Karner, 11-1.75. 3, Logan Hays, 10-8.
Long jump: 1, Tayhlore Hoagland, 18-4.25. 2, Melody Nwagwu, 18-3.75. 5, Grace Sloan, 16-7. 6, Eva Brandenburg, 16-0.25.
Triple jump: 1, Emma Vogt, 36-4.25. 3, Grace Sloan, 36-0.25.
Shot put: 2, Taylor Hofland, 40-11.75. 4, Ariella Per, 38-5. 6, Eva Brandenburg, 36-4.25.
Discus: 6, Taylor Hofland, 132-3.
Hammer: 4, Anna Grexton, 171-0. 6, Brooklyn Epperley, 146-2.
Javelin: 2, Chase Kubinski, 143-9. 4, Leala Willman, 129-9. 8, Avery Karner, 102-8. 9, Natalie Porter, 102-3.
MEN
100-meter: 8, Jonathan Yu, 11.26. 12, Noah Goodrich, 11.85.
200-meter: 4, Ryan Teeple, 22.15. 5, Vincent Atilano, 22.17.
400-meter: 1, Vincent Atilano, 48.08. 4, Levi Romero, 49.62. 5, Dheer Patel, 50.78.
110-meter hurdles: 3, Ben Kin Ho Tsang, 14.99.
4×100-meter relay: 2, Cal Poly (Jonathan Yu, Dheer Patel, Vincent Atilano, Ryan Teeple), 41.34.
4×400-meter relay: 2, Cal Poly (Ben Kin Ho Tsang, Levi Romero, Jonathan Yu, Dheer Patel), 3:18.28.
High jump: 2, Nathan Fifer, 6-4.75.
Pole vault: 2, Ben Feyrer, 15-3.
Triple jump: 1, Noah Goodrich, 44-8.
Shot put: 1, Corban Payne, 57-0.75. 2, Albert Beerbower, 51-8.25.
Discus: 1, Rory Devaney, 166-4. 2, Travis Martin, 160-11.
Hammer: 1, Rory Devaney, 223-0. 2, Travis Martin, 220-7.
Javelin: 1, Colby Neron, 230-11. 2, Ben Lammers, 189-2.