Mustang Track Sending Athletes to Seattle, New Mexico this Weekend

Friday, February 10

Seattle, WA / Dempsey Indoor

All Day

Husky Classic

Shelby Daniele 60-meter, UW Invitational

Photo by: Jamie Mitchell

Mustang Track Sending Athletes to Seattle, New Mexico this Weekend

2/8/2023 3:40:00 PM | Track and Field

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly track and field program continues its indoor season this Friday and Saturday when the Mustangs split the squad between a pair of meets, sending the distance crew to the Husky Classic and the throwers, jumpers, sprinters and hurdlers to the prestigious Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque.

Action from Dempsey Indoor in Seattle begins at 2:30 p.m. Friday, while the meet hosted by New Mexico at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the site of the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, starts at 9 a.m. PST Friday. Links to stream and follow the live results for both meets can be found on the Cal Poly track and field schedule page.

The Mustangs are coming off a historic weekend at the UW Invitational on Jan. 27-28 where the men competed indoors for the first time in Division I program history and established 11 Division I school records.

A total of 17 athletes will compete in the Husky Classic, including Amanda Olla, who became the first Cal Poly woman to run the 5,000-meter indoors two weeks ago. She posted a time of 16:42.63 in her first collegiate track meet, which is currently ranked No. 10 in the West Region this spring. Olla will run the 3,000-meter Friday night.

Nina St. John and Tatiana Cornejo are also entered in the 3,000, while Carissa Buchholz, Sydnie Rivas and Rachel Victor will all compete in the 5,000. Cornejo, the Big West Women's Freshman of the Year this past fall in cross country, will race in the mile as well, along with Riley Cash. Misty Diaz is set to participate in the 800.

On the men's side, Xian Shively is entered in two events (mile, 3,000) while John Bennett, Michael Chambers, Aidan Dimick, Anthony Guerra, Spencer Pickren, Rory Smail, Carson Smith and Spencer Thurman will all appear in one event.

Twenty-eight Mustangs will encounter some of the best teams and athletes in the country at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational.

A pair of school record holders will compete for the women. Jadyn Snaer, who owns the 60-meter dash record, is set to race in the 60 and 200, while Melody Nwagwu is entered in the triple jump and long jump. At the UW Invitational on Jan. 28, Nwagwu soared past the indoor school record in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 19 feet, 3.5 inches.

Fifteen other women will take part in the meet, including Shelby Daniele (No. 2 all-time in the 60 and No. 3 in the 200), Maya Holman (No. 5 in the 60 hurdles) and freshman Lexi Evans (No. 4 in the pole vault).

On the men's side, defending Big West pole vault champion Mathis Bresko, Devon Cetti, Corban Payne and Tyler Esteves are all set to compete. Ryan Searl, a junior transfer from UC Santa Barbara, will make his Cal Poly debut in the 60-meter dash.

Joey Souto, Chase Walter, Wesley Salzman and Chris Davis, who led Cal Poly's 4x400-meter relay team to a first-place finish at the UW Invitational, will look to build off that performance Saturday afternoon. Souto will also participate in the 60 hurdles for the first time in his career.