Wednesday, May 25
Fayetteville, AR
at
NCAA West Preliminaries
7 Mustangs Qualify for NCAA West Preliminaries
5/19/2022 10:27:00 AM | Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Seven Mustangs earned a berth to compete in the NCAA Track and Field West Preliminaries. Elliott Payne, Mathis Bresko, Christian Valles, Aidan McCarthy, Jake Ritter, Emily Hallett and Melissa Navarro will all represent Cal Poly at the meet held May 25-28 at the University of Arkansas.
The field was announced Thursday morning in a press release on NCAA.com. The top 48 individual marks west of the Mississippi secured a spot in the West Regional. Qualifiers that finish in the top 12 in each event at the meet, along with the top 12 from the East Regional, will advance to the NCAA Division I National Championships at the University of Oregon on June 8-11.
You can follow the live results for the West Preliminaries here. The meet will also be livestreamed on ESPN.com each day.
Meet Schedule (PDF)
SEC Network+/ESPN.com broadcast: Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4
Below is some info on the seven Mustangs headed to Fayetteville listed in the order in which they will compete.
All times = Pacific Standard Time
Elliott Payne
Men's javelin (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, Noon PST
Payne, a freshman, grabbed a spot in the West Regionals by tossing the javelin 206 feet, 1 inch at the Mustang Invitational on April 22. That mark is No. 10 on Cal Poly's all-time list.
Payne finished fifth in the event at the Big West Championships (193-11) and is seeded 44th out of 48 heading into prelims.
Mathis Bresko
Men's pole vault (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, 4:30 p.m. PST
Bresko punched his ticket to Fayetteville at the Mustang Invitational with a personal record of 17-2.75, the best mark in the Big West this season.
Bresko, who received men's Big West Field Athlete of the Week honors on March 15, won the conference title in the men's pole vault (16-11), edging out Cal State Fullerton's Daniel Palacio based on fouls. The sophomore has placed first in five of the seven meets he has participated in this spring and enters West Prelims ranked No. 25.
Christian Valles
Men's pole vault (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, 4:30 p.m. PST
Valles, a junior, will enter regionals as the No. 42 seed with a career-best 16-10.75, achieved at the Mustang Invitational.
Valles improved upon his sixth-place finish at the 2021 Big West Championships by taking fourth this year.
Aidan McCarthy
Men's 800-meter (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, 5:50 p.m. PST
McCarthy is headed to the West Regional fresh off an epic performance at the conference championships. McCarthy, a redshirt freshman, grabbed first in the 800 with a time of 1 minute, 49.38 seconds, a new personal record and fifth fastest in school history. McCarthy became the third Mustang ever to win a Big West title in the event and the feat earned him Mechanics Bank Cal Poly Student-Athlete of the Week honors.
McCarthy, who was selected as the Big West Male Track Athlete of the Week on March 29, has ran the 800 at a meet only twice this season, but is seeded 36th entering regionals.
Jake Ritter
Men's 10,000-meter (Semifinal)
Wednesday, May 25, 7:10 p.m. PST
Ritter returns to regionals for the second consecutive year after placing 38th in the 10,000 at the West Preliminaries in 2021.
Ritter finished second in the 10,000 and 5,000 at conference championships and his personal-best time of 28:55.83 in the 10,000, fourth best in school history, at the Stanford Invitational on April 1 has him seeded 44th entering the meet. Ritter, along with Hallett, are the only two Mustangs with prior regional experience.
Emily Hallett
Women's hammer throw (First Round)
Thursday, May 26, 8 a.m. PST
Hallett, a senior, will look to improve upon her 26th-place finish in the hammer at last year's West Prelims when she competes in Arkansas next week. This past week, Hallett fell 7 inches short of repeating as conference champ in the hammer.
Hallett, who was named the Big West Female Field Athlete of the Week on March 15, achieved a toss of 200-11 at the Pacific Coast Invitational on April 14 to break her own school record. That mark has her seeded 28th entering regionals.
Melissa Navarro
Women's javelin (First Round)
Thursday, May 26, Noon PST
Navarro, a redshirt sophomore, transferred to Cal Poly from Butte College back in December, and she's already leaving her mark as a Mustang. Navarro captured first in the women's javelin this past weekend to earn Cal Poly's first conference champion in the event since 2016, and fourth overall since joining the Big West.
Navarro is seeded No. 40 entering the West Regional thanks to her career-best throw of 155-8, fifth best in school history, at the West Coast Relays on March 31.
Here's the full list of qualifiers in each event for the West Preliminaries:
Men
Women
The field was announced Thursday morning in a press release on NCAA.com. The top 48 individual marks west of the Mississippi secured a spot in the West Regional. Qualifiers that finish in the top 12 in each event at the meet, along with the top 12 from the East Regional, will advance to the NCAA Division I National Championships at the University of Oregon on June 8-11.
You can follow the live results for the West Preliminaries here. The meet will also be livestreamed on ESPN.com each day.
Meet Schedule (PDF)
SEC Network+/ESPN.com broadcast: Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4
Below is some info on the seven Mustangs headed to Fayetteville listed in the order in which they will compete.
All times = Pacific Standard Time
Elliott Payne
Men's javelin (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, Noon PST
Payne, a freshman, grabbed a spot in the West Regionals by tossing the javelin 206 feet, 1 inch at the Mustang Invitational on April 22. That mark is No. 10 on Cal Poly's all-time list.
Payne finished fifth in the event at the Big West Championships (193-11) and is seeded 44th out of 48 heading into prelims.
Mathis Bresko
Men's pole vault (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, 4:30 p.m. PST
Bresko punched his ticket to Fayetteville at the Mustang Invitational with a personal record of 17-2.75, the best mark in the Big West this season.
Bresko, who received men's Big West Field Athlete of the Week honors on March 15, won the conference title in the men's pole vault (16-11), edging out Cal State Fullerton's Daniel Palacio based on fouls. The sophomore has placed first in five of the seven meets he has participated in this spring and enters West Prelims ranked No. 25.
Christian Valles
Men's pole vault (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, 4:30 p.m. PST
Valles, a junior, will enter regionals as the No. 42 seed with a career-best 16-10.75, achieved at the Mustang Invitational.
Valles improved upon his sixth-place finish at the 2021 Big West Championships by taking fourth this year.
Aidan McCarthy
Men's 800-meter (First Round)
Wednesday, May 25, 5:50 p.m. PST
McCarthy is headed to the West Regional fresh off an epic performance at the conference championships. McCarthy, a redshirt freshman, grabbed first in the 800 with a time of 1 minute, 49.38 seconds, a new personal record and fifth fastest in school history. McCarthy became the third Mustang ever to win a Big West title in the event and the feat earned him Mechanics Bank Cal Poly Student-Athlete of the Week honors.
McCarthy, who was selected as the Big West Male Track Athlete of the Week on March 29, has ran the 800 at a meet only twice this season, but is seeded 36th entering regionals.
Jake Ritter
Men's 10,000-meter (Semifinal)
Wednesday, May 25, 7:10 p.m. PST
Ritter returns to regionals for the second consecutive year after placing 38th in the 10,000 at the West Preliminaries in 2021.
Ritter finished second in the 10,000 and 5,000 at conference championships and his personal-best time of 28:55.83 in the 10,000, fourth best in school history, at the Stanford Invitational on April 1 has him seeded 44th entering the meet. Ritter, along with Hallett, are the only two Mustangs with prior regional experience.
Emily Hallett
Women's hammer throw (First Round)
Thursday, May 26, 8 a.m. PST
Hallett, a senior, will look to improve upon her 26th-place finish in the hammer at last year's West Prelims when she competes in Arkansas next week. This past week, Hallett fell 7 inches short of repeating as conference champ in the hammer.
Hallett, who was named the Big West Female Field Athlete of the Week on March 15, achieved a toss of 200-11 at the Pacific Coast Invitational on April 14 to break her own school record. That mark has her seeded 28th entering regionals.
Melissa Navarro
Women's javelin (First Round)
Thursday, May 26, Noon PST
Navarro, a redshirt sophomore, transferred to Cal Poly from Butte College back in December, and she's already leaving her mark as a Mustang. Navarro captured first in the women's javelin this past weekend to earn Cal Poly's first conference champion in the event since 2016, and fourth overall since joining the Big West.
Navarro is seeded No. 40 entering the West Regional thanks to her career-best throw of 155-8, fifth best in school history, at the West Coast Relays on March 31.
Here's the full list of qualifiers in each event for the West Preliminaries:
Men
Women
Players Mentioned
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
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