Cal Poly Awards 2023-24 Athletes, Scholars of the Year

Cal Poly Awards 2023-24 Athletes, Scholars of the Year

6/7/2024 5:20:00 PM | Cross Country, Football, General, Men's Soccer, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Track and Field, Beach Volleyball, Women's Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Davis Bove, who helped lead the Cal Poly men's cross country and track and field teams to historic seasons was named Cal Poly Male Athlete of the Year while softball standout Jessica Clements, who had one of the best offensive seasons in program history received the Cal Poly Female Athlete of the Year award.

The other award winners were cross country and track & field star Will Fallini-Haas and volleyball standout Kate Slack as the male and female Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Track and field freshman star Chris Caudillo and beach volleyball All-American freshman Erin Inskeep were named male and female Newcomers of the Year.

Men's soccer junior Nate Colley received the Mustang Way Award given to the student-athlete that best represents what it means to be a Cal Poly student-athlete. Junior football safety Jeremy Justice and senior swimmer Alexa Porter were named Iron Mustang winners, given out by the strength and conditioning staff to the athletes who put forth the best effort in the weight room.

All the awards were given out during Wednesday evening's Night of the Mustang year end awards banquet held at the Performing Arts Center on campus.

Bove made quite the splash this year for the Cal Poly track & field and cross country programs, powering the Mustang men to Big West team titles in both and helping Cal Poly become the first school in conference history to sweep all four Big West titles in men's and women's track & field and cross country during a single academic year. In his debut as a Mustang in the fall, Bove — who was a two-time Second Team All-American in the indoor mile while competing for LSU from 2019-23 — qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships by placing eighth at the NCAA West Regional, tied for the second-highest individual finish by a Mustang man at the meet in program history. The USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete also ran away with the individual title at the conference meet to be crowned Big West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

On the track, the graduate student tore up the school record books. Indoors, Bove became the fifth Mustang ever to run a sub-four-minute mile with the second-fastest time in school history (3:58.0) and he established a program record in the men's 1,000-meter (2:20.97). Then outdoors, the Franklin, Tenn. native qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries in both the 1,500 and 5,000, and scored a total of 18 team points for the Mustangs at the Big West Championships, winning the conference title in the men's 1,500 and securing second in the men's 5,000. Bove placed 15th in the 1,500 at the NCAA West Prelims with a time of 3:41.76, finishing just .67 seconds away from advancing to the NCAA Championships based on time.

This past weekend at the 2024 Music City Track Carnival in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Bove shattered the school record in the men's 1,500 with a lifetime best of 3:38.4 and earlier this year ran the third-fastest 5,000 time in program history (13:48.0).
This marks the second straight year a student-athlete from the Mustang track & field and cross country program has won the Cal Poly Male Athlete of the Year Award.

Just the third three-time NFCA All-West Region selection in Cal Poly softball program history and the 2024 Big West Player of the Year honoree, junior center fielder Jessica Clements turned in one of the most dominant offensive performances in program history. Finishing the year third among NCAA Division I hitters with a .464 batting average – the third highest mark in the program's 50-year history – Clements also ranked 13th nationally with a .526 on-base percentage and 42nd with 71 hits.

Also a three-time All-Big West first team honoree, Clements led the conference with a .686 slugging percentage, finished second with 105 total bases and five triples, fourth with 11 doubles, fifth with 35 runs and ninth with five homers.

She recorded 23 multi-hit-efforts (including nine three-hit games). Averaging 1.6 hits per game, Clements ranked as the 34th toughest player to strike out in Division I, averaging just one per 25.5 at-bats.

Cal Poly's leadoff batter in 116 of 135 career outings, Clements remained the top hitter in program history and second leading hitter in Big West history with a .416 career mark after three years.

Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Fallini-Haas capped off a remarkable Cal Poly career this spring by becoming the fourth Mustang in program history to sweep Big West titles in the men's 5,000 and 10,000 and the first since 2018. The two conference titles allowed the Spring Creek, Nev. native to score 20 team points and become a four-time All-Big West honoree between track & field and cross country.

Fallini-Haas, who captured second at the 2022 Big West Cross Country Championships and third at the 2021 meet, ran the fifth-fastest 5,000 time in school history (13:55.11) at the Stanford Invitational this season.

Academically, Fallini-Haas is a four-time Big West All-Academic Team selection and will graduate this spring with his bachelor's in architecture.

A staple starting middle blocker in the lineup the last three years for the volleyball team, Slack led the Mustangs in blocks this past season and was fifth in the Big West in that category.

She surpassed the 300 block mark for her career during the season and set her career high for blocks in a match when she recorded nine against Cal State Fullerton.

Off the court, she has been a two-time Big West All-Academic honoree and carries a 3.97 GPA while majoring in biological sciences. Slack will earn her undergraduate degree in a few weeks and will play one final season with the Mustangs while she works on earning her master's degree.

Newcomers of the Year

Caudillo had a remarkable freshman campaign, becoming the first athlete in the history of the Big West to be named the Big West Men's Freshman of the Year in both track and field and cross country.

The Clovis, Calif. native rightfully earned the honors, scoring 10 team points for the Mustangs at the Big West Track & Field Championships. He finished off one of three podium sweeps for the men's distance team at the conference meet by placing third in the men's 1,500 to earn All-Big West honors. Caudillo ran the sixth-fastest 1,500 time in school history (3:41.69) to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims as a true freshman and was one of five qualifiers for the Mustangs in the event, helping set a new program record.
In cross country, Caudillo was the Mustangs' fifth runner to cross the finish line in both the Big West Championship and NCAA West Regional, placing 13th and 80th in the meets respectively.

Inskeep had one of the best seasons by a beach volleyball freshman in program history. She was named an AVCA Second Team All-American, becoming just the third Mustang to earn that honor. She was also named an AVCA Top Flight Award winner, named First Team All-Big West, and was named Big West Freshman of the Year.

She and Ferch won 30 matches together for the season, breaking the program record for wins by a pair in a season.

Mustang Way Award Winner

This year, the Cal Poly Athletic Department had a new end of year award that they gave out called the Mustang Way Award which recognizes the Cal Poly student-athlete that best embodies the Mustang Way and embraces everything about being a Mustang student-athlete in leadership, character, work ethic, and community service.

This year's inaugural winner was men's soccer junior forward Nate Colley. Colley is the president of Cal Poly's student-athlete leadership council, a men's soccer team captain, and organizes several community service events for athletics.

Iron Mustang Award Winners

The winners of the Iron Mustang Award, given out by the Cal Poly strength and conditioning staff, was awarded to Cal Poly football redshirt junior safety Jeremy Justice and women's swimming & diving senior Alexa Porter.