Mustang Track & Field Gears Up for Busy Week

Thursday, March 30

Clovis, CA / Veterans Memorial Stadium

All Day

West Coast Relays

Wesley Salzman, MacGregor TeSelle, Tyler Esteves, 200, Cal Poly Open, 03-03-23

Photo by: Emmy Scherer

Mustang Track & Field Gears Up for Busy Week

3/29/2023 2:59:00 PM | Track and Field

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly track and field is back on the road this week, splitting the squad between three meets in California — the West Coast Relays, Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic.

Most of the Mustangs are heading to Fresno on Thursday and Friday to compete in the historic West Coast Relays, including the throwers, sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and pole vaulters. Cal Poly's top distance runners will travel further north to take part in the prestigious Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Links to live results for all three meets can be found on the track and field schedule page on GoPoly.com.

Action at the West Coast Relays gets underway at noon Thursday with the women's hammer throw. The javelin and hammer will be held at Fresno State's Warmerdam Field on Thursday, while the rest of the events will be contested Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.

Overall, over 60 athletes are set to compete for the Mustangs across the three meets.

Cal Poly is fresh off hosting the inaugural Conover Classic this past weekend. The Mustangs secured 17 event victories during their second home meet of the season and six top-10 marks in program history were recorded.

DYNAMIC DUO: Sprinters Jadyn Snaer and Shelby Daniele have been running blistering times and rewriting the Cal Poly record books from the moment they stepped on the track for competition in January. Indoors, Snaer smashed the school record in the women's 60-meter dash several times, while Daniele broke a 24-year-old program record in the 200 and moved to No. 2 all-time in the 60. Outdoors, Snaer and Daniele have continued to climb the Mustangs' all-time top marks list with every meet, including this past week. At the Conover Classic, Daniele ran a lifetime best and the third-fastest time in school history in the 200-meter (23.73 seconds). She also rose to No. 4 on the all-time list in the women's 100-meter dash, running an 11.61 and finishing just .03 seconds behind Snaer, who moved into a tie with Patrice Carpenter (1985) for No. 2 on the top marks list in the event.

FRESHMAN PHENOM: At the Conover Classic on Saturday, freshman Lexi Evans cleared 13 feet, 3.75 inches in the women's pole vault to jump to No. 5 in school history. She will be looking to continue her ascent up the top marks list Friday at the West Coast Relays. Indoors, Evans also owns the fourth-best mark in program history (12-11.5).

TIBS EARNS PRAISE: On Tuesday, freshman Tibyasa Matovu was named Big West Men's Field Athlete of the Week for the first time in his career after recording personal bests in the men's long jump (24-0.25) and triple jump (46-5.25) at the Conover Classic. Matovu's honor marked the second straight week a Mustang won the Big West Men's Field Athlete of the Week award after junior Zack Volpe earned it on March 21 for his performance in the pole vault at the Bulldog Classic. Three Cal Poly athletes have received Big West weekly honors this season.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Mustang fans got a taste of what to expect from the distance team this spring last Friday night under the lights at the Conover Classic, but for the first time this season Cal Poly's full crew of top distance runners will be in action this week. At the Stanford Invitational, the Mustangs will encounter some of the best distance runners in the country. Seventeen Mustangs are entered in events at the Stanford Invitational on Friday and Saturday — Carissa Buchholz, Tatiana Cornejo, Misty Diaz, Cassidy Hubert, Sydnie Rivas, Nina St. John, Rachel Victor, Quinton Alexander, John Bennett, Aidan Dimick, Anthony Guerra, Aidan McCarthy, Spencer Pickren, Xian Shively, Rory Smail, Carson Smith and Spencer Thurman. Seven Cal Poly athletes will also compete in the 5,000-meter at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic on Friday. This fall, Cal Poly swept the team titles at the Big West Cross Country Championships for the sixth time in program history.

BEST IN THE BIG WEST: The Mustangs currently own the top mark in the Big West in nine events — Bennett (men's 1,500), Bresko (men's pole vault), Daniele (women's 200), Evans (women's pole vault), Guerra (men's 3,000 steeplechase), Amaya Lopez-Fuller (women's discus), Matovu (men's long jump), Snaer (women's 100) and the women's 4x100 relay (Anisa Rind, Daniele, Melody Nwagwu and Snaer).

UP NEXT: After taking a week off, Cal Poly will split the team between a trio of meets again, sending athletes to the Mt. SAC Relays (Apr. 12-15), Bryan Clay Invitational (Apr. 13-15) and Beach Invitational (Apr. 14-15).