Cal Poly Men's, Women's Track Secure USTFCCCA All-Academic Team Honors
7/17/2024 1:00:00 PM | Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Six Cal Poly track and field student-athletes along with both the men's and women's teams were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday for their dedication and success in the classroom.
Davis Bove, Shelby Daniele, Rory Devaney, Lexi Evans, Corban Payne and Lewis Westwood were all named All-Academic Athletes by the USTFCCCA, while the Mustang men’s and women’s teams both received All-Academic Team honors. Cal Poly’s men’s and women’s cross country teams also earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team distinction in the fall.
To earn All-Academic Team status, programs must post a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. The Mustang women recorded a team GPA of 3.316 while the men had a team GPA of 3.120. To secure All-Academic Athlete praise, track and field student-athletes must meet several criteria, including maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and participating in any round of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
This marks the second straight year Devaney and Evans have garnered All-Academic Athlete recognition, and the first time Daniele, Payne and Westwood have earned the honor.
Bove secured All-Academic Athlete honors during the cross country season in the fall as well, and received the All-Academic praise multiple times in his career at LSU (2019-23) prior to arriving at Cal Poly last summer. Last week, Bove, who is currently pursuing his master's in business analytics at Cal Poly, also earned College Sports Communicators Third Team Academic All-America honors, marking the third straight year an athlete from the Cal Poly track and field program garnered CSC Academic All-American praise.
Bove qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries in two events this spring — the men’s 1,500 and 5,000 — and was just .67 seconds away from advancing to the NCAA Finals in the 1,500 based on time.
Daniele graduated this spring with her master’s in agriculture while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. She qualified for the NCAA West Prelims for the first time, running the third-fastest women’s 200-meter time in school history (23.57 seconds).
Devaney, a sophomore forest and fire sciences major, secured a berth to the NCAA West Prelims in both the men’s discus and hammer this year, and shattered a 25-year-old school record in the discus.
Evans, a sophomore pursuing her bachelor's in aerospace engineering, earned a trip to the West Prelims in the women’s pole vault for the second consecutive year and won the Big West title in the event with a collegiate best of 13 feet, 10 inches — the second-best mark in program history.
Payne, who will be returning next year for one final season while attending grad school, qualified for the NCAA West Prelims for the first time this spring by tossing the fourth-best men’s shot put mark in school history (59-0.25).
Westwood, a sophomore environmental engineering major, also advanced to the West Prelims for the first time this season, qualifying for the meet in the men’s 1,500 by running the ninth-fastest time in program history (3:43.18).
