Big West Championships
Mustangs Seek Hardware at Big West Championships
5/11/2023 8:00:00 AM | Track and Field
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly track and field program is primed to make some noise and bring home plenty of hardware when they descend upon Cal State Fullerton's Titan Track Complex on Friday and Saturday for the Big West Championships.
Action on the first day starts at 10 a.m. with the women's hammer throw, with running events getting underway at 2:20 p.m. and wrapping up after 8 p.m. with the women's 10,000-meter. Competition on the final day begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with the men's javelin. Finals for running events start at 1 p.m. with the men's 4x100 relay.
The Big West Championships will be streamed live on ESPN+ both days with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Mustangs will carry plenty of momentum into this week's action after sophomore Maya Holman and junior Nick Gammal opened the Big West Championships this past Friday and Saturday with solid performances in the multi-event portion of the conference meet.
Holman captured fifth in the heptathlon, scoring 4 team points for the Cal Poly women, while Gammal gritted out a seventh-place finish in the decathlon to earn 2 team points for the men. Heading into the full conference meet, the Mustang men and women both sit in fourth place. UC Santa Barbara leads the way on the men's side with 14 points, while Long Beach State is first in the women's team standings with 13.
At last year's Big West Championships, the Cal Poly men took home fourth (118.5 points) and the women secured fifth (91). In the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Rating Index, the Mustang men and women are both ranked third in the Big West, with LBSU slotted at No. 1 on each side. The Cal Poly women raised their first Big West title in program history in 2021, while the men will be seeking their first championship this weekend after finishing runner-up nine times.
A total of 16 athletes who have earned All-Big West honors in the past will compete for the Mustangs this weekend in Fullerton, including a pair of 2022 Big West Champions — Aidan McCarthy and Mathis Bresko.
McCarthy is looking to become Cal Poly's first two-time Big West Champion in the men's 800-meter, and he appears to be ready to do just that. Earlier this season, the redshirt sophomore smashed a 53-year-old school record in the 800, posting a time of 1:47.24 — tied for the 11th-fastest in the nation this season.
McCarthy is fresh off another historic performance, shattering a 45-year-old school record in the 1,500 at the Oxy Invitational this past Sunday. The performance earned him his second Big West Men's Track Athlete of the Week award this season and the third of his career. McCarthy is the Big West leader in the 800 and 1,500, but will only run the 800 and 5,000 at the conference meet.
Bresko and John Bennett (men's 5,000) also own the top mark in the conference in their respective events. Bresko won the Big West title in the men's pole vault last year, clearing 16 feet, 11 inches. This season, he posted a personal best of 17-7.25 at the Beach Invitational — a mark that is tied for 17th in the West Region.
In 2022, Bresko placed 13th overall at the NCAA West Preliminaries, one spot short of advancing to the NCAA Finals.
Cal Poly owns the second or third best mark in the Big West in 13 events.
Freshman Rory Devaney, who broke the school record in the men's hammer throw at the West Coast Relays on March 30, is ranked third in the hammer (202-4) and in the discus with a mark (176-8) that is No. 5 in Cal Poly history.
Shelby Daniele and Jadyn Snaer enter the meet tied for second in the conference in the women's 100-meter dash (11.58 seconds). The dynamic duo is also tied for No. 2 on Cal Poly's all-time list in the event. Daniele is tied for second in the Big West in the 200 as well (23.57). At her first Big West Championship meet in 2021, Daniele placed second in the 200 and third in the 100.
Rachel Victor, a grad transfer from Sacramento State, has impressed in her first and only season as a Mustang, running the second-fastest women's 3,000 steeplechase time (10:16.43) in school history at the Steve Scott Invitational on April 28. She enters the Big West meet ranked second in the event, only trailing LBSU's Ryley Fick — the defending conference champion in the 800 and 3,000 steeplechase.
In the women's pole vault, freshman Lexi Evans and Annie Hatzenbeler are No. 2 and No. 3 in the Big West. Evans is fifth on Cal Poly's all-time list in the event (13-3.75), while Hatzenbeler is tied for No. 7 (13-1.5). Hatzenbeler finished third at last year's conference meet.
Amaya Lopez-Fuller, who earned All-Big West honors in 2021, owns the second-best mark in the conference in the women's discus (167-8). Cal Poly is second in the women's 4x100 relay thanks to Anisa Rind, Daniele, Melody Nwagwu and Snaer, who posted a time of 45.40 seconds at the Mustang Invitational three weeks ago. Nwagwu placed third in the triple jump last year and is currently ranked fourth in the event.
Aspin Oliver enters the meet at No. 3 in the women's 400 hurdles with a time of 1:00.69 — just .02 seconds off No. 10 on the all-time list — while freshman Tibyasa Matovu is third in the men's long jump (24-0.25).
During a banner day for the Cal Poly men's distance team at the Oxy Invitational on Saturday, Spencer Pickren and Xian Shively soared up the top marks list in the 1,500. Pickren sits at No. 5 all-time in the event, while Shively is No. 7. Pickren ran the second-fastest 1,500 time in the Big West this season (3:43.29). Shively is third in the conference in the 1,500, but will run the 5,000 and 10,000 at the Big West Championship meet.
Three Mustang event groups were ranked top-25 in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings with the men's 1,500 leading the way at No. 17. The men's hammer throw checked in at No. 18, while the men's javelin is ranked No. 21 in the country.
You can follow Cal Poly track and field on Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the Big West Championships.
Following the conference meet, the Mustangs will enter postseason competition and focus their attention on the NCAA West Preliminaries held May 24-27 at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium. The field, comprised of the top 48 individual marks and top 24 relay times in the West Region, will be announced at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday, May 18. Currently, nine Mustangs own regional qualifying marks.
Players Mentioned
