After a historic four-year run with 12 conference championships, Cal Poly’s Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy and Women’s Cross Country Head Coach Michelle Chewens have resigned.
On Saturday, Cal Poly Athletics announced both Vanhoy’s and Chewens’ resignations, followed by Arizona State officially naming Vanhoy as its new director.
Both men’s and women’s track and field and cross country teams have been among Cal Poly’s most consistently successful programs over the past four years under Vanhoy and Chewens’ leadership.
Men’s track and field won its first-ever Big West title in 2024 and went on to win two more consecutive titles along with one title on the women’s side, with Vanhoy as director.
Cal Poly men’s and women’s cross country teams won their fourth consecutive Big West Championship this past fall.
Chewens was named the Big West Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year from 2022-25 while Vanhoy earned Big West Coach of the Year eight times between cross country and track and field.
Since their resignations were made official, a national search to fill their positions has begun.
As of Saturday, these empty positions create a leadership void that threatens Cal Poly’s dominant standing as the Big West Conference’s cross country and track and field powerhouse.
This could be the end of the golden era for the Mustangs, though this sentiment will rely heavily on who replaces both Vanhoy and Chewens, along with who they can recruit for the incoming season.
The coaching change has already sparked roster fallout.
All-American distance runner Chris Caudillo announced his entry into the transfer portal one day after Vanhoy’s exit, and multiple Mustang commits have flipped to Arizona State.
Vanhoy’s role as director was one of the main reasons Caudillo was drawn to Cal Poly. Caudillo was a major asset to both track and field and cross country teams, as throughout his three years at Cal Poly, his time as a Mustang was highlighted by a series of record-breaking performances at both the school and conference levels.
Although the future remains uncertain for the award-winning programs, the ultimate trajectory of the upcoming seasons depends almost entirely on the swiftness of the athletic department’s national search and the incoming coach’s ability to retain talent.
Any new hire will need to recruit urgently to prevent an exodus from the championship roster built over the past four years.
With a historic four-year run officially in the past, finding leaders who can fill those voids and replicate that level of success remains the defining challenge of Cal Poly’s upcoming athletic year.