Big West Conference Championships
5 Mustangs earn All-Conference Honors on Day 1 of Big West Championships
5/13/2022 8:53:00 PM | Track and Field
Cal Poly men's team currently in second, women third
DAVIS, Calif. — Five Mustangs secured All-Conference honors on the first day of the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships on Friday at UC Davis.
Emily Hallett, Jake Ritter, Annie Hatzenbeler, Nick Betchart and Anthony Guerra all placed in the top three in their respective events to claim spots on the All-Conference Team.
As a team, the Cal Poly men currently sit in second place with 53 points, 23 behind first-place UC Santa Barbara. The women are in third with 33 points and trail UC Davis by 12.
Overall, 15 athletes earned team points for the Mustangs on Friday.
Friday at the Big West Championships.
Cal Poly dominated the men's 10,000-meter as four Mustangs collected a total of 17 team points. Ritter led the way by placing second in 30 minutes, 52.35 seconds. Will Fallini-Haas came home five, John Bennett took sixth and Spencer Thurman was seventh.
Hallett captured second place in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 198 feet, 1 inch. Hallett, the school-record holder in the event, came up just 7 inches short of repeating as conference champion in the hammer.
Hatzenbeler grabbed third in the women's pole vault (12-3.25), securing 6 team points. Melody Nwagwu secured fourth in the long jump (18-10.5), just missing out on All-Conference honors. She finished 0.75 inches behind the conference champion, Kaitlyn Williams from Long Beach State.
Betchart (53-8.5) and Corban Payne (51-5) took third and seventh respectively in the men's shot put to rack up 8 team points for the Mustangs.
A pair of Mustangs were able to earn team points in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. On the men's side, Guerra established a new personal best (9 minutes, 6.35 seconds) to take third. In the women's race, Nina St. John finished eighth (11:08.05) and smashed her previous career best by over 20 seconds.
In the men's javelin, two athletes scored points for the Mustangs. Elliott Payne (193-10) and Kevin Schmitt (185-3) grabbed fifth and eighth respectively. Schmitt also brought home a fourth-place finish in the high jump with a career best 6-9, earning 6 team points on the day.
John Walther collected 2 team points in the men's high jump with a seventh-place finish and Sierra Brill took eighth in the women's 10,000 (36:35.85).
On Friday, 10 Mustangs also qualified for finals in their respective events: Anisa Rind (women's 400), Shimona Draper (women's 400 hurdles), Jonathan Chagnon (men's 400 hurdles), Joey Souto (men's 400 hurdles), Cassidy Hubert (women's 800), Aidan McCarthy (men's 800), Julia Heckey (women's 1,500), Xian Shively (men's 1,500), Anthony Benitez (men's 1,500) and Elias Opsahl (men's 1,500).
McCarthy's time in the 800 (1:50.98) was a new career best and the fastest in prelims.
Competition on the final day of the Big West Conference Championships starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with the men's hammer throw. You can follow the live results HERE.
Players Mentioned
