Ben Brown Invite Distance Classic
Devaney Shatters School Record; Mustangs Win 16 Events at Bulldog Invite
3/8/2025 11:00:00 PM | Track and Field
FRESNO, Calif. — Junior Rory Devaney shattered the school record in the men’s hammer throw and three other Mustangs recorded top-10 marks as the Cal Poly track and field program opened its outdoor season at the Bulldog Invite and Ben Brown Invite on Friday and Saturday.
At the Bulldog Invite hosted by Fresno State on Saturday, the Mustangs won 16 of the 27 events they competed in at the meet between the men’s and women’s teams while battling athletes from the host Bulldogs and College of the Sequoias.
Devaney shined in the outdoor opener, breaking teammate Travis Martin’s school record in the men’s hammer throw with a lifetime best toss of 223 feet (67.97 meters), besting the previous record by 9 inches to capture first at the meet. The strong performance in his outdoor opener comes just weeks after the San Luis Obispo native wrapped up an impressive indoor season where he broke his own school record in the men’s weight throw twice and finished with the 30th best mark in the nation (71 feet, 4.25 inches).
Martin wasn’t far behind Devaney, recording a mark of 220 feet, 7 inches (67.23 meters) on his last attempt to take second, about 1.5 feet off his lifetime best. Last year between Devaney and Martin, the duo broke the school record in the men’s hammer throw a combined six times and both qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries.
In the women’s hammer throw, a pair of top-10 marks in school history were recorded. In her first time competing in the event in nearly two years, Anna Grexton moved up a spot to No. 4 all-time with a lifetime best of 171-0 (52.12m). The showing came on the heels of Grexton breaking the school record in the weight throw indoors. Freshman Brooklyn Epperley cracked the top 10 in the first outdoor meet of her career, recording the ninth best mark in school history (146 feet, 2 inches).
Colby Neron posted the fourth and final top-10 mark of the outdoor opening weekend for the Mustangs in the men’s javelin, making history in the process. Under the current iteration of the javelin (since 1986), Neron became just the third Mustang in program history and the first since 2007 First Team All-American Aris Borjas to record an over 70-meter throw in the event, tossing a lifetime best of 70.38 meters (230 feet, 11 inches) to win the event and improve his third best mark in school history.
Junior Chase Kubinski was another standout for the Cal Poly throws squad, recording a nearly 4-foot personal best in the women’s javelin (143 feet, 9 inches) to take home second. She also claimed third in the women’s high jump, clearing 5 feet, 5.25 inches, .75 inches off her PR.
Speaking of the women’s high jump, Cal Poly swept the top four places in the event with 2024 Big West runner-up Melanie Castelli securing first (5-7.25), Lariel Henley second (5-5.25), Kubinski third and Maia Garcia fourth (5-3.25).
The Cal Poly women posted eight more event victories at the event. The Mustangs swept the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, posting a strong outdoor-opening time of 46.07 seconds. Freshman Tayhlore Hoagland won both the 100-meter and long jump, junior and two-time NCAA West Prelims qualifier Lexi Evans took first in the pole vault, and freshmen Ava Simos (200), Avery Adelman (400 hurdles) and Emma Vogt (triple jump) all captured first-place finishes in events.
On the men’s side, Cal Poly won a total of six events. In addition to winning the hammer throw, Devaney grabbed first in the men’s discus (166 feet, 4 inches). Devaney currently owns the school record in three events — the men’s discus, hammer throw and weight throw. Graduate student Corban Payne, the indoor school record holder in the shot put, took first in the event at the meet (57-0.75), freshman Vincent Atilano won the 400 with a PR (48.08 seconds) and freshman Noah Goodrich claimed first in the triple jump.
Ben Brown Invite Recap
Sixteen Mustang distance runners competed in the Ben Brown Invite Distance Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton on Friday night. A slew of personal bests were recorded, highlighted by a standout performance by redshirt junior Michael Chambers. In the men’s 5,000-meter, Chambers placed fourth with a nearly 45-second personal best of 14:01.96, just over two seconds off No. 10 in school history. Senior Bryce Kueker (14:07.17), sophomore Dheeraj Gurusamy (14:08.88), freshman Micah Grossman (14:18.45), redshirt freshman Rory Catsimanes (14:19.54) and freshman Aiden Aldana (14:28.18) also ran significant personal bests in the event, along with several others.
On the women’s side, sophomore Lianna Guerra ran an over 35-second PR in the 5,000 (17:03.35), and sophomore Ashlyn Leath posted a PR as well (17:21.74). Sophomore Sydney Sundgren recorded a PR in the 1,500 (4:36.57).
Across the two meets in Fullerton and Fresno, 15 athletes made their Cal Poly debut.
The Mustangs continue their outdoor season on Saturday, March 22, when they host the third annual Mark Conover Classic, the only home meet this season at the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex.
Cal Poly Entries
Ben Brown Invite
WOMEN
1,500-meter: 7, Sydney Sundgren, 4:36.57. 11, Melisse Djomby Enyawe, 4:41.27. 20, Renae Searls, 4:47.22.
5,000-meter: 12, Lianna Guerra, 17:03.35. 16, Isabel Sanchez, 17:15.49. 18, Ashlyn Leath, 17:21.74.
MEN
5,000-meter: 4, Michael Chambers, 14:01.96. 7, Bryce Kueker, 14:07.17. 8, Dheeraj Gurusamy, 14:08.88. 11, Micah Grossman, 14:18.45. 14, Rory Catsimanes, 14:19.54. 16, Anthony Guerra, 14:23.00. 20, Aiden Aldana, 14:28.18. 32, Teg Pandher, 14:36.85. 34, Devin Ibarra, 14:37.64. 36, Tyler Downs, 14:41.27.
Bulldog Invite
WOMEN
100-meter: 1, Tayhlore Hoagland, 12.43. 3, Madison Easter, 12.55. 4, Ava Fortier, 12.57.
200-meter: 1, Ava Simos, 24.99.
100-meter hurdles: 1, Kaira Burrage, 15.09. 3, Eva Brandenburg.
400-meter hurdles: 1, Avery Adelman, 1:02.94.
4x100-meter relay: 1, Cal Poly (Melody Nwagwu, Madison Easter, Ava Fortier, Ava Simos), 46.07.
4x400-meter relay: 1, Cal Poly (Kaira Burrage, Emma Vogt, Eva Brandenburg, Avery Adelman), 4:03.66.
High jump: 1, Melanie Castelli, 5-7.25. 2, Lariel Henley, 5-5.25. 3, Chase Kubinski, 5-5.25. 4, Maia Garcia, 5-3.25.
Pole vault: 1, Lexi Evans, 12-1.5. 2, Avery Karner, 11-1.75. 3, Logan Hays, 10-8.
Long jump: 1, Tayhlore Hoagland, 18-4.25. 2, Melody Nwagwu, 18-3.75. 5, Grace Sloan, 16-7. 6, Eva Brandenburg, 16-0.25.
Triple jump: 1, Emma Vogt, 36-4.25. 3, Grace Sloan, 36-0.25.
Shot put: 2, Taylor Hofland, 40-11.75. 4, Ariella Per, 38-5. 6, Eva Brandenburg, 36-4.25.
Discus: 6, Taylor Hofland, 132-3.
Hammer: 4, Anna Grexton, 171-0. 6, Brooklyn Epperley, 146-2.
Javelin: 2, Chase Kubinski, 143-9. 4, Leala Willman, 129-9. 8, Avery Karner, 102-8. 9, Natalie Porter, 102-3.
MEN
100-meter: 8, Jonathan Yu, 11.26. 12, Noah Goodrich, 11.85.
200-meter: 4, Ryan Teeple, 22.15. 5, Vincent Atilano, 22.17.
400-meter: 1, Vincent Atilano, 48.08. 4, Levi Romero, 49.62. 5, Dheer Patel, 50.78.
110-meter hurdles: 3, Ben Kin Ho Tsang, 14.99.
4x100-meter relay: 2, Cal Poly (Jonathan Yu, Dheer Patel, Vincent Atilano, Ryan Teeple), 41.34.
4x400-meter relay: 2, Cal Poly (Ben Kin Ho Tsang, Levi Romero, Jonathan Yu, Dheer Patel), 3:18.28.
High jump: 2, Nathan Fifer, 6-4.75.
Pole vault: 2, Ben Feyrer, 15-3.
Triple jump: 1, Noah Goodrich, 44-8.
Shot put: 1, Corban Payne, 57-0.75. 2, Albert Beerbower, 51-8.25.
Discus: 1, Rory Devaney, 166-4. 2, Travis Martin, 160-11.
Hammer: 1, Rory Devaney, 223-0. 2, Travis Martin, 220-7.
Javelin: 1, Colby Neron, 230-11. 2, Ben Lammers, 189-2.
