Mustangs Head to Southern California for Three Meets

Thursday, April 13

Long Beach, CA / Jack Rose Track

All Day

Pacific Coast Intercollegiate

Rachel Victor, Nina St. John, 2,000 steeplechase, Conover Classic, 3-24-23

Rachel Victor (left) and Nina St. John compete in the women's 2,000-meter steeplechase on March 24 at the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex.

Photo by: Maddie Harrell

Mustangs Head to Southern California for Three Meets

4/12/2023 1:40:00 PM | Track and Field

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After a brief break in competition, Cal Poly track and field is back in action this week in Southern California, splitting the team between three meets over three days for the second time this season.

It all starts Thursday with the Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific University and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate hosted by Long Beach State. The Bryan Clay Invitational is a three-day meet that wraps up Saturday, while the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate is a one-day meet. The Mustangs will also participate in the Beach Invitational hosted by LBSU Friday through Saturday.

Cal Poly's sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, throwers, pole vaulters and a handful of distance runners will take part in the two meets hosted by LBSU, giving some a taste of what they will encounter at the Big West Championships in a month when they compete back-to-back days. The Mustangs' top distance runners are slated to compete in the Bryan Clay Invitational, along with sophomore Maya Holman who will participate in the heptathlon starting at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Links to live results for all three meets can be found on the track and field schedule page on GoPoly.com. Across the three meets, over 50 Mustangs will be in action.

Last time out, Cal Poly split the squad between the West Coast Relays, Mike Fanelli Track Classic and Stanford Invitational, recording five top-10 marks in program history and bringing home six event victories from Fresno.

#EVENTSQUAD: Five Cal Poly event groups were ranked top-25 in the nation in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association #EventSquad Rankings released Monday. On the men's side, the Mustangs are ranked top-25 nationally in four event groups — the 1,500-meter (No. 13), hammer throw (No. 14), javelin (No. 16) and pole vault (No. 22). The Cal Poly women are No. 17 in the pole vault.

CONFERENCE CONTENDERS: The Cal Poly men's and women's teams both checked in at No. 2 in the Big West in the season's first USTFCCCA Conference Track & Field Rating Index released Monday. The only conference foe ahead of the Mustangs was Long Beach State, who won the women's title last spring and finished second on the men's side. At the 2022 Big West Championships, the Cal Poly men captured fourth and the women secured fifth. The men are currently ranked 13th in the West Region, while the women are 16th.

BIG WEST WEEKLY HONORS: So far this season, four Mustangs have earned Big West Athlete of the Week awards — the first of their careers for all four honorees. Jadyn Snaer, who has been tearing up the Cal Poly record books since the beginning of the indoor season along with fellow sprinter Shelby Daniele, was the first athlete to receive praise this spring on March 7, winning Big West Women's Track Athlete of the Week after an impressive start to the outdoor season at the Cal Poly Open. Snaer, the school record holder in the women's 60-meter dash, ran a time of 11.58 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the Conover Classic a few weeks back, tied with Patrice Carpenter (1985) for second-fastest in program history. The Mustangs won the Big West Men's Field Athlete of the Week award three consecutive weeks from March 21 to April 4. Junior Zack Volpe started the streak with his performance in the pole vault at the Bulldog Classic, then freshman Tibyasa Matovu kept things rolling by recording personal bests in the long jump and triple jump at the Conover Classic. Freshman Rory Devaney was the most recent award recipient for the Mustangs after shattering the school record in the men's hammer throw and recording a top-10 all-time mark in the discus at the West Coast Relays. The historic performance earned the 2022 San Luis Obispo High grad plenty of attention locally as KSBY News and The Tribune both published stories about his feats.

LEADING THE PACK: Cal Poly currently owns the top mark in the Big West in four events, including three distance events on the men's side — Aidan McCarthy (1,500), Anthony Guerra (3,000 steeplechase) and John Bennett (5,000). Amaya Lopez-Fuller leads the conference in the women's discus with a mark of 167 feet, 8 inches.

UP NEXT: On Friday, April 21, Cal Poly will host its third and final home meet of the season when they welcome a handful of teams to the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex for the Mustang Invitational.