NCAA Outdoor Championships
Devaney Earns First Team All-American Honors; McCarthy Advances to 800 Final
6/11/2025 11:00:00 PM | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. — Junior Rory Devaney earned First Team All-American honors in the men’s hammer throw and redshirt junior Aidan McCarthy advanced to the 800-meter final to highlight a stellar first day of action for the Cal Poly track and field program at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday.
The Mustangs’ three NCAA qualifiers showed out at the prestigious Hayward Field with Devaney setting the tone by putting on a record-breaking performance.
On his second attempt in his first NCAA Championship appearance, the San Luis Obispo native recorded a massive lifetime best of 243 feet, 4 inches (74.16 meters) in the men’s hammer throw to win the first flight and secure a spot in the nine-man final. He surpassed his previous personal best (230 feet, 9 inches) by nearly 13 feet.
Heading into the final in fifth place, Devaney held onto that position to secure a podium finish and First Team All-American honors. With the performance, Devaney became the first Cal Poly athlete since Jasmine Pickett in 2011 (women’s triple jump) to earn First Team All-American honors in a field event and the highest finisher in a field event on the men’s side since Aris Borjas took third in the javelin in 2007. Devaney shattered the school record in the hammer by over 11 feet in the process and bested his previous personal record entering the meet five times on Wednesday. Devaney’s fifth-place finish allowed him to score 4 team points, helping the Cal Poly men earn team points at NCAAs for the 13th time in program history.
Senior Travis Martin also competed in the men’s hammer throw at NCAAs, posting a strong performance in his first appearance at nationals. Martin placed 10th overall with a mark of 224 feet, 1 inch (68.31 meters), and was just 1 inch away from qualifying for the final in the event. The showing allowed the San Jose native to secure Second Team All-American honors.
Devaney and Martin are officially the second and third All-Americans in the Division I history of the men’s track and field program in the hammer throw, joining Tom Pagani who won the 1961 Division I national championship in the event while Cal Poly was still competing in Division II. This also marks the first time in the history of the men’s track and field program that the Mustangs earned multiple All-Americans in an event during a season.
It was business as usual for McCarthy on Wednesday as he capped a sensational day for the Mustangs by cruising into the men’s 800-meter final. The Pleasanton, Calif. native won heat two in the 800 semifinals with a time of 1:47.25 to automatically qualify for the NCAA final at 6:14 p.m. Friday in Eugene. It’s the second time McCarthy has advanced to the 800 final outdoors and the first time since 2023, when he finished seventh overall to earn First Team All-American honors.
The two-time First Team All-American will be looking to become Cal Poly’s 11th outdoor Division I national champion and first since Sharon Day-Monroe in 2005 (women’s high jump) when he takes the start line Friday. You can watch the 800 final live on ESPN2 here.
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