Two clean sweeps in women’s discus and men’s javelin were a part of the massive podium presence the Mustangs harbored at home in the Cal Poly Invitational on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 at Miller and Capriotti Sports Complex.
The Mustangs had 18 first-place finishes over the weekend with 11 of them followed by a second-place pairing finish.
The invitational hosted 12 different teams including Big West foe CSU Bakersfield. Fresno State, Santa Clara, St. Mary’s, Sonoma State and Southern Utah were amongst the schools that traveled to San Luis Obispo to compete.
For the women, freshman Isabella Rigby led the way in the discus throw with a 48.97m first-place finish. Sophomore Amaya Lopez-Fuller threw a 45.35m, and sophomore Natalie Rogers threw a 44.12m, rounding out the top three for the Mustangs.
Sophomore Annie Hatzenbeler placed first in the pole vault with a height of 3.95m, along with Rogers’s first-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 11.93m. Another sophomore, Kaia Hoak, finished first in the 3000m steeplechase, clocking in at 11:13.65.
A pair of freshmen, Melody Nwagwu and Maya Holman stood on top of the podium in the long jump. Nwagwu jumped 5.74m and Holman 5.49m.
The triple jumping duo of graduate Karina Moreland, who jumped 12.13m, and Nwagwu, who jumped 12.01m, went one and two in the event.
Stand-out sophomore Cassidy Hubert continued her great season with another first-place finish in the 800m run, clocking two minutes and 11.38 seconds.
Cal Poly’s all-time record holder in weight throwing, senior Emily Hallett, had another strong showing on Friday, placing second with a 55.42m throw.
The Mustang women ended the invitational with eight first-place finishes and 10 second-place finishes.
On the men’s side of the meet, junior Devon Cetti started the meet out on top of the podium in the hammer throw with a mark of 58.90m. Senior Chris Davis’s 49.06 second first-place time in the 400m dash and junior Tyler Esteves’s 10.90 second first-place time in the 100m dash was a part of the Mustangs men’s eight individual first-place finishes on the weekend.
In the javelin throw, freshman Elliott Payne’s mark of 55.58m led the way for a Mustang sweep in the event. Junior Kevin Schmitt threw 54.01m and sophomore Nick Gammal threw 51.98m to round out the top three.
Sophomore pole vaulters Zach Volpe and Mathis Bresko both reached a height of 4.95m to share first place. Schmitt and junior John Walther finished top two in the high jump. Schmitt jumped 2.00m and Walther jumped 1.95m.
Sophomore Aidan McCarthy outran teammate junior Xian Shively in the 1500m by three-tenths of a second as they both crossed the finish line on top. McCarthy timed in at 3:45.93 and Shively came in at 3:46.13.
In the 400m hurdles, sophomore Joey Souto’s time of 53.68 seconds was quick enough to take first place from teammate redshirt junior Jonathan Chagnon’s time of 55.76 seconds.
For the men’s relay teams, Cal Poly won the 4x100m, timing in at 41.33 seconds, and the 4x400m, timing in at three minutes 15.35 seconds.
The Mustangs are back on the track Friday, April 1 at two different meets, the West Coast Relays at Fresno State University and the Stanford Invitational at Stanford University.
The Stanford Invitational will run until Saturday, April 2 but the West Coast Relays are a one-day event.