Cal Poly Men First, Women Tied for Second After Day 1 of Conference

Men's 10,000 Podium, Big West Championships, 051024

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Men First, Women Tied for Second After Day 1 of Conference

5/10/2024 11:00:00 PM | Track and Field

LIVE RESULTS
DAY 2 LIVESTREAM

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Lexi Evans, Melody Nwagwu and Will Fallini-Haas all captured individual conference titles and the Mustangs swept the top three places in the men's 10,000-meter to highlight action for Cal Poly during the first day of the Big West Track & Field Championships on Friday at the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex.

Currently, the Cal Poly men sit in first place in the team standings with 64 points, while the women are tied with UC Irvine for second place with 46 points.

Nwagwu brought the Cal Poly faithful to its feet with her performance in the women's long jump. On her last attempt, Nwagwu soared to a lifetime best of 20 feet, 3.75 inches to capture the Big West title in the event. Her mark moved her to No. 2 on Cal Poly's all-time list. She became the third Mustang in school history to claim a conference title in the event and the first since Whitney Sisler in 2012. The junior improved upon her previous personal best by nearly 10 inches.

Nearly simultaneously, Evans absolutely rolled to the conference title in the women's pole vault, clearing a collegiate best of 13 feet, 10 inches — No. 2 on Cal Poly's all-time list. The sophomore finished nearly a full foot in front of her next closest competitor to become the fifth Mustang in program history to win a Big West championship in the event and the first since 2021. This is the second consecutive year Evans has earned All-Big West praise in the pole vault, placing second last year.

The Mustangs capped off an incredible first day of the full Big West meet with a dominant showing in the men's 10,000. Cal Poly runners finished first, second and third in the event as Fallini-Haas took home the title (30:18.71), Colton Swinth secured runner-up and redshirt freshman Aidan Dimick completed the podium sweep. It marks the second straight year a Mustang has won the men's 10,000 Big West title as Swinth placed first in 2023. Fallini-Haas is the 10th different Mustang to win a Big West title in the event. Freshman Jude DeVries and Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos also finished sixth and seventh respectively, allowing Cal Poly to collect a whooping 29 points in the event and take the lead in the team standings heading into the final day.

Hana Catsimanes, Rory Devaney and Bryce Kueker also collected All-Big West honors by placing in the top three in their respective events during the opening day Friday. Catsimanes posted a personal best of 34:59.17 to secure second in the women's 10,000, while Kueker grabbed a third-place finish in the men's 3,000 steeplechase (9:01.44). It was the first Big West meet for both. Devaney earned runner-up in the men's discus (179-6) with a strong performance.

In the men's high jump, freshman Nathan Fifer and Kevin Schmitt both cleared 6-5 to place fourth and fifth respectively and score some solid team points for the Cal Poly men. Schmitt also earned sixth in the javelin (188-8), while freshman Ben Lammers took eighth (184-1) in the event. Michael Chambers (seventh, 3,000 steeplechase), Travis Martin (seventh, discus) and Noah Bustos (eighth, long jump) also scored team points for the men on day one.

Isabel Sanchez and Nina St. John snagged fifth and sixth respectively in the women's 3,000 steeplechase. Sophomore Chase Kubinski started the day strong for the Cal Poly women by earning fourth in the javelin with a lifetime best (140-0) Freshman Logan Hays grabbed sixth in the pole vault, while Ellie Baxter took seventh in the 10,000 (36:39.94). Cadence Roy-Williams wrapped up the list of scorers for the women on day one, placing eighth in the long jump (18-8.5).

On Friday, 18 Mustangs qualified for finals in their respective events on the track: Quinton Alexander (men's 800), Davis Bove (men's 1,500), Riley Cash (women's 1,500), Chris Caudillo (men's 1,500), Tatiana Cornejo (women's 800, 1,500), Shelby Daniele (women's 100, 200), Elianah DeMange (women's 400), Kalia Estes (women's 400 hurdles), Alexander Franco (men's 400), Jordan Jackson (women's 400), Mateo Malko-Allen (men's 1,500), Sophia Nordenholz (women's 1,500), Spencer Pickren (men's 1,500), Carson Smith (men's 800, 1,500), Joey Souto (men's 400 hurdles), MacGregor TeSelle (men's 200), Chase Walter (men's 400) and Lewis Westwood (men's 1,500).

Cornejo, Daniele and Smith all advanced to finals in two events. Cornejo ran the top time in prelims in both the women's 800 and 1,500, while Estes had the fastest time in the women's 400 hurdles with a PR of 1:00.75, just .08 seconds off No. 10 in Cal Poly history. Daniele posted a PR of 11.57 seconds in the women's 100 prelims, moving into solo second on Cal Poly's all-time list. Jackson's time in the women's 400 prelims of 55.48 seconds was a collegiate best and the seventh-fastest in school history.

Action on the final day of the Big West Championships begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with the women's hammer throw. Live coverage of the meet on ESPN+ starts at noon and you can follow the live results here.

Big West Track & Field Championships

Day 1 Results

WOMEN

Current Team Standings — 1, Long Beach State, 48.50. T2, Cal Poly, UC Irvine, 46. 4, UC Riverside, 35. 5, Hawai'i, 31. 6, UC Santa Barbara, 22. 7, UC Davis, 19. 8, CSUN, 14. 9, CSU Bakersfield, 10.5. 10, Cal State Fullerton, 1.
100 prelims (2:30 p.m. Saturday finals): 2, Shelby Daniele, 11.57.
200 prelims (3:40 p.m. Saturday finals): 4, Shelby Daniele, 24.15. 15, Anisa Rind, 25.06.
400 prelims (2:10 p.m. Saturday finals): 5, Jordan Jackson, 55.48. 8. Elianah DeMange, 55.93. 18, Katelyn Carro, 58.29.
800 prelims (2:50 p.m. Saturday finals): 1, Tatiana Cornejo, 2:10.63. 18, Cassidy Hubert, 2:17.04.
1,500 prelims (1:20 p.m. Saturday finals): 1, Tatiana Cornejo, 4:36.50. Riley Cash, 4:36.86. 8, Sophia Nordenholz, 4:38.34. 14, Kelli Gaffney, 14:40.89.
10,000: 2, Hana Catsimanes, 34:59.17. 7, Ellie Baxter, 36:39.94. 12, Ashlyn Leath, 37:20.44.
400 hurdles prelims (3:15 p.m. Saturday finals): 1, Kalia Estes, 1:00.75.
3,000 steeplechase: 5, Isabel Sanchez, 10:52.24. 6, Nina St. John, 10:54.22. 11, Sydney Sundgren, 11:16.13.
High jump (2:30 p.m. Saturday): Melanie Castelli, Lariel Henley, Chase Kubinski, Maia Garcia.
Pole vault: 1, Levi Evans, 13-10. 6, Logan Hays, 12-4.75.
Long jump: 1, Melody Nwagwu, 20-3.75. 8, Cadence Roy-Williams, 18-8.5.
Discus: 16, Isabella Rigby, 112-3.
Javelin: 4, Chase Kubinski, 140-0. 14, Bella Martinez, 119-7.

MEN

Current Team Standings — 1, Cal Poly, 64. Cal State Fullerton, 59. 3, UC Irvine, 55. 4, Long Beach State, 50. 5, UC Davis, 19. 6, UC Santa Barbara, 15. 7, UC Riverside, 10. 8, CSUN, 1.
100 prelims: 10, MacGregor TeSelle, 10.57.
200 prelims (3:50 p.m. Saturday finals): 2, MacGregor TeSelle, 21.00.
400 prelims (2:20 p.m. Saturday finals): 2, Chase Walter, 47.61. 5, Alexander Franco, 47.91.
800 prelims (3 p.m. Saturday finals): 2, Carson Smith, 1:51.18. 8, Quinton Alexander, 1:53.44.
1,500 prelims (1:30 p.m. Saturday finals): 2, Carson Smith, 3:50.44. 3, Davis Bove, 3:52.04. 4, Spencer Pickren, 3:52.73. 6, Lewis Westwood, 3:52.84. 7, Chris Caudillo, 3:50.70. 12, Mateo Malko-Allen, 3:51.99. 18, Erik Luu, 4:03.27.
10,000: 1, Will Fallini-Haas, 30:18.71. 2, Colton Swinth, 30:22.76. 3, Aidan Dimick, 30:24.89. 6, Jude DeVries, 30:35.61. 7, Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, 30:39.51.
400 hurdles prelims (3:25 p.m. Saturday finals): 3, Joey Souto, 52.31.
3,000 steeplechase: 3, Bryce Kueker, 9:01.44. 7, Michael Chambers, 9:18.89.
High jump: 4, Nathan Fifer, 6-5. 5, Kevin Schmitt, 6-5. 10, Isaac Knapp, 6-3.25.
Long jump: 8, Noah Bustos, 23-8.
Discus: 2, Rory Devaney, 179-6. 7, Travis Martin, 164-10.
Javelin: 6, Kevin Schmitt, 188-9. 8, Ben Lammers, 184-1. 10, Nick Gammal, 176-9. 11, Chase Walter, 173-2.