After securing back-to-back Big West Championship sweeps for both men’s and women’s cross country, the Mustangs further bolster their group of distance runners.
Ryan Vanhoy and the coaching staff secured two transfers from the Pac-12: Jon Lester and Sophia Nordenholz, according to GoPoly.com.
Lester comes from Stanford while Nordenholz previously attended the University of Washington.
Lester has three years of eligibility for outdoor track, two for indoor track and one for cross country. Nordenholz will start at Cal Poly this spring with three years of eligibility remaining for indoor and outdoor track as well as cross country.
Both runners accumulated many accolades during their time at their respective Pac-12 schools. In Nordenholz’s first year as a true freshman, she competed in the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Right before that race, she placed 46th overall at the NCAA West Regional Championships, coming in as the sixth runner for UW. As for her regular season that year, she placed top seven for UW in all five of their cross-country meets. She did not compete for UW during this last cross-country season.
On the track, Nordenholz placed 11th in the 5,000-meter at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships. She also posted some personal bests in the 1,500 meter along with the 5,000 meter while running unattached during the indoor season and breaking her personal bests in the mile (4:48.64) and the 3,000 meter.
Lester helped the Stanford Men’s Cross Country secure the Pac-12 Championship this last fall. He also posted the 11th-fastest indoor mile time (3:58.84) in Stanford history in 2023, along with breaking the program’s school record in the indoor 800.
Lester secured first-place victories in the 800 at multiple meets – both indoors and outdoors. He then went on to place 10th overall at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800 meter in the 2023 season.
Lester is a product of Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California, the same high school as standout 800-meter All-American redshirt junior Aidan McCarthy. He graduated one year after McCarthy.
Lester and Nordenholz will look to make their marks as Mustangs this upcoming spring, as Cal Poly will be hosting the Big West Track & Field Championships on May 3-4 and 10-11.