One year ago, Cal Poly Track and Field made history.
The Mustangs had an incredible outing at last season’s Big West Championships, sweeping both the men’s and women’s Big West titles in their first time hosting the meet. Eight events were won by Cal Poly athletes on the way to the championship victories.
After another year full of broken records and outstanding performances, the Mustangs will look to retain their titles.
According to the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) Track and Field Ratings Index, the Cal Poly men currently rank No. 4 in the NCAA West Region, while the women rank No. 19.
The Cal Poly men are the highest-ranked squad in the Big West, while Long Beach State and UC Irvine rank higher than the Mustangs on the women’s side.
Underdogs no longer
As winners on the men’s and women’s side last season, Cal Poly now goes into the Big West meet with a target on their backs.
“I think we’re definitely the team to beat,” senior Rory Devaney said. “But for us, it’s just business as usual.”
Devaney, one of Cal Poly’s top throwers, is poised to make some noise at the Big West meet. Earlier this season at the Bulldog Invite, he broke the Cal Poly hammer throw record, now owning program records in the hammer, discus and weight throw.
Last season, he placed third in the hammer but hopes to contribute even more points to the team this time around.
“I want to go place as high as I can and just contribute to the team, hopefully bring home that trophy again,” Devaney said.
Junior Lexi Evans goes into the meet as the defending champion in the pole vault.
Evans made waves during the season, breaking Cal Poly’s pole vault record with a leap of 14 feet, 5.25 inches, the top outdoor mark in the NCAA at the time.
As a defending champ in her event, Evans is just as motivated to keep her title as she was to win it last season.
“I think I’m still equally motivated to take that winning title,” Evans said. “There’s an even deeper field for Big West, and it’s just such a more competitive area that I’m excited to get back at it and really work to keep my spot.”
Cal Poly enters the meet at a slight point disadvantage due to having no athletes participate in the Multi-Events. The Mustangs are driven to prove that last season’s sweep was no fluke.
“The statement we’re looking to make is that we did it once, we can do it again,” senior Melody Nwagwu said.
Beyond the Big West
Though the conference championships are a huge achievement for Cal Poly, the team believes they have the talent to aspire for bigger goals, such as sending more players to the NCAA regionals.
In order to earn a spot in the NCAA West Preliminaries, an athlete must earn a top 48 individual mark or top 24 relay time within the West region.
Last season, 11 Mustangs made their NCAA West Preliminaries debut.
Nwagwu was one of those 11, reaching the West prelims after winning both the women’s long jump and triple jump events at the Big West Championship.
Nwagwu hopes to not only reach regionals but push to nationals this season.
“That’s been my goal for my collegiate career, to get to the more nationally recognized level,” Nwagwu said. “I’m excited to get back there this year and then hopefully qualify for nationals and take it a step further.”
Cal Poly’s coaches believe that the work they’re putting in will give their athletes a good shot at an NCAA qualification.
“We have some athletes right now that are in a place where we can actually have those conversations of competing at that top tier level” Cal Poly throwing coach Les Courtemanche said. “We all are looking at very similar goals and have that ambition to just be better than the Big West.”
The Big West field opened the meet on May 9-10 in the Multi-Event Championships, featuring events such as the decathlon and heptathlon. No Cal Poly athletes competed in the events.
UC Santa Barbara currently holds first place on the men’s side with 18 points after winning the decathlon, while Long Beach State holds the top spot on the women’s side with 15 points after winning the heptathlon.
Cal Poly will have the opportunity to defend their conference titles and send athletes to the next level starting on Friday, May 16 at Jack Rose Track in Long Beach.