Big West Conference Championships
Woolf, Haar Win Titles, Lead Cal Poly to 3rd-Place Finish at Championships
5/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Four Teammates Also Earn All-Conference Status on Day 2 of Big West Meet Alone
Saturday Features Six Mustang PRs, Plus Four Times or Marks Ranking Among Respective Top 10s in School History
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Cal Poly swept the 5,000-meter titles at the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships on Saturday, as junior Nick Woolf and sophomore Molly Haar each led the Mustangs to third-place team finishes, concluding the two-day meet televised by Fox Sports Prime Ticket from UC Riverside Stadium.
Previously a two-time steeplechase champion, Woolf won his first 5,000 championship in 14 minutes, 42.45 seconds close to his hometown of Norco. While picking up 10 points, he edged UC Santa Barbara rival Bryan Guijarro by seven-tenths of a second ahead of 35 other challengers. It's the fourth time in the past five years the Mustangs have captured gold in the race.
Behind Woolf (who was entered in his first 5K all spring), sophomore teammates Dimitri Voytilla and Clayton Hutchins followed in fourth and fifth, at 14:45.02 and 14:46.88, while senior Blake Ahrold added a sixth-place 14:47.63. Four more Mustangs also posted top-15 times: sophomore David Galvez (in 12th, at 14:51.85) and freshmen Garrett Migliozzi (13th, 14:52.29), Swarnjit Boyal (14th, 14:53.04) and Devon Grove (14:53.23).
Immediately afterward, Haar won the women's 5,000 in 17:31.75. She turned the tables on UCSB senior Daniella Moreno, who had topped her for the 10K title on Friday night, as this time, Haar seized the Blue-Green Rivalry showdown by 6.35 seconds.
Cal Poly freshman Sydney Szabo, who was also among the Top 3 the prior evening, came back with a fourth-place 17:51.54. A trio of teammates also contributed points: junior Meghan Breadmore (in sixth during her first chance in 2015, at 17:57.53) and sophomores Kylie Nishisaka (seventh, 17:58.06) and Michelle Read (eighth, 18:05.14).
The showings by Woolf and Haar brought the Mustangs' overall collection of championships to 116 since joining the Big West in 1997.
Long Beach State's men won their third consecutive championship, totaling 185 points to fend off UCSB (167). The Mustangs' 95 outdid CSUN (94) for the next spot out of the eight programs. Concurrently, the CSUN women ended UC Davis' three-year reign atop their nine-team leaderboard, 212-168, while Cal Poly was next in line, outdistancing the fourth-place Gauchos 102-80.
Cal Poly junior Ashley Windsor was Saturday's runner-up in the women's 1,500 meters, with a career-best time of 4 minutes, 18.54 seconds (trailing only UC Davis senior Raquel Lambdin's 4:17.09), to tally eight points.
Windsor's time is the sixth-fastest in school history. Following in fifth place, teammate Sara Van Dyke finished in 4:27.32.
Fellow Cal Poly junior Kendal Nielsen finished third in the women's triple jump, landing at a career-best 40 feet, 10.5 inches on her final attempt, earning six points. The mark also ranks No. 4 in program history. Mustang freshman Juliana McCuaig added a 14th-place 37-0.25; Hawai'i sophomore Rachel Toliver prevailed at 41-9.25.
Additionally, junior Danielle Bryan matched her collegiate best in the high jump, taking third place at 5-9.25. She had already reached 5-8.75 at three meets this year before breaking through with the season best (tied for No. 8 all-time at Cal Poly) at the ideal moment. Mustang freshman Danielle Taylor contributed a seventh-place clearance of 5-5.25, also meeting her PR, while Gaucho junior Jessica Emde won at 5-10.5.
A sixth Cal Poly student-athlete also secured all-conference status in the 110 hurdles, where sophomore Ben Hartinger came in third at 14.53 seconds (followed by Kevin Staniszewski in eighth at 15.09). UC Irvine's Lloyd Sicard won in 14.05.
Sophomore sprinter Daijah Joe-Smith placed fourth for Cal Poly in the women's 100-meter dash, at 11.98 seconds, as did senior Hanna Edwards in the 800, at a lifetime-best 2:09.78.
Ricky Strehlow tacked on fifth-place points in the men's triple jump, as the sophomore came down at 48 feet, 1.25 inches on his fifth attempt.
Another sophomore, Arnie Sambel, was also fifth in the men's discus, producing a mark of 168-10 on his initial throw. Nick Bultman, a junior who competed in the hammer on Day 1, was ninth with his collegiate-best 157-6, just ahead of sophomore Nate Vickers in 10th at 154-2.
A tandem of Mustangs also scored in the javelin, in which sophomore Ted Scranton came in seventh place with a mark of 198-6 on his first release (an overwhelming PR — by 18-9 — which also moved to No. 9 on the Cal Poly chart since 1986). Scranton edged junior Nick Ahrold in eighth (at 198 feet). Two teammates also turned in solid throws, as sophomore Ivy Adair was ninth at 189-7, and junior Alex Ziebart came in 14th at 179-7.
Four Cal Poly distance runners competed in the men's 1,500 final, paced by junior Kyle Lynch with a sixth-place time of 3:56.02, ahead of freshman Peter Cotsirilos (in eighth at 3:56.27), sophomore Clayton Hutchins (10th, 3:57.46) and junior Al Gamez Jr. (11th, 3:59.25).
In the pole vault, sophomore Brad Beekman got over a seventh-place height of 15-7.
Coming in eighth place, freshman Kiely Osby shot-putted to 45-5 on her first attempt, before the 400 hurdles saw senior David Namnath clock a time of 53.42 seconds, and then sophomore Mallory Patino a 1:04.83. Ninth-place finishes in other events were had by sophomores Jessica Davis (at 14.63 in the 100 hurdles) and Joey Sanfilippo (11.03 in the 100).
The women's 400 relay squad of sophomore Mishe' Scott (an all-conference long-jumper on Friday), junior Ajah Love, Joe-Smith and sophomore Jessica Rasmussen was fifth, at 46.29. To close the meet, sophomore Amir Bradley, Namnath, Scranton and Adair teamed for a seventh-place 1,600 relay time of 3:22.58 to gather two last points — which ultimately proved to be key in the team standings, given their one-point gap ahead of the Matadors.
Altogether throughout the weekend, the Mustangs accumulated 10 all-conference honors and 13 PRs.
Cal Poly will now await invitations to the NCAA West Regional meet, hosted by Texas from May 28-30 at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin.
