NCAA Outdoor Championships
3 Mustangs Head to Eugene for NCAA Championships
6/9/2025 12:00:00 PM | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. — Cal Poly’s three NCAA qualifiers are all set to take center stage this week at one of the world’s most prestigious track and field facilities to compete in the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Action for the Mustangs from University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene starts at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when senior Travis Martin and junior Rory Devaney take part in the final of the men’s hammer throw, with redshirt junior Aidan McCarthy hitting the track in the semifinals of the men’s 800-meter at 5:58 p.m. Wednesday. The two top finishers in each of the three 800 semifinal heats along with the next three fastest times ran across the three heats will advance to the 800 final at 6:14 p.m. Friday.
Live coverage on the first day of the meet Wednesday is available on ESPNstarting at 4 p.m., while a stream of the men’s hammer throw competition at 1:30 p.m. can be found on ESPN+. Live coverage of the final day of the men’s events at the NCAA Championships is available on ESPN2 starting at 5 p.m. Friday.
The field for the NCAA Championships is comprised of the 24 best times and marks in the country with the top 12 finishers in each event at the NCAA West Prelims and NCAA East Prelims respectively earning a ticket to the coveted meet less than two weeks ago.
The three NCAA qualifiers for the Mustangs are the most by the program in a single season since Cal Poly sent three athletes to nationals in 2005 (two women, one man) and are tied for the most individual qualifiers ever by the Cal Poly men’s team, joining the 1979 squad. This also marks the first time since 2015 (Danielle Bryan, Ashley Windsor) that Cal Poly has qualified multiple athletes for the NCAA Championships.
By qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Devaney, Martin and McCarthy have all earned the chance to grab All-American honors. At the NCAA Championships, the top eight finishers in an event secure First Team All-American status, ninth through 16th place garner Second Team All-American praise and 17th through 24th place receive Honorable Mention All-American recognition.
If Devaney and Martin record a mark at the NCAA Championship meet, they would officially become 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. Prior to 1983, the NCAA allowed student-athletes from all divisions to qualify for the Division I championships. Devaney and Martin both earning a spot at NCAAs marks the first time in the Division I history of the men's track & field program that the Mustangs have had more than one NCAA qualifier in an event during a season.
Devaney and Martin rightfully earned their tickets to their first NCAA Championship meet. Martin placed fifth in the West Prelims (222 feet, 6 inches) and Devaney took 10th (216 feet, 4 inches) to secure their spots at NCAAs. Entering the meet, Martin and Devaney are seeded seventh and eighth respectively out of the 24 competitors. Martin owns the No. 10 mark recorded in the NCAA this season (232 feet, 3 inches; 70.80 meters) while Devaney is right behind him with the 11th best mark in the nation (230 feet, 9 inches, 70.33 meters).
Martin and Devaney have broken the school record a combined four times this season, with Martin currently owning the program record and Devaney sitting at No. 2 all-time. Martin broke the school record en route to finishing runner-up at the Big West Championships for the second straight year, while Devaney captured third at the conference meet for the third consecutive season to become a four-time All-Big West honoree across his career.
Devaney is in Flight 1 of the men’s hammer throw at the NCAA Championships while Martin is in Flight 2. Each of the 24 competitors across the two flights will get three throws, with the top nine marks advancing to the final and earning three more attempts.
The national stage is no stranger to McCarthy who is set to compete in his second NCAA Outdoor Championship meet and first since 2023 after missing the 2024 outdoor season due to injury. McCarthy is looking to cap off a sensational season that’s seen him already secure First Team All-American honors by placing third in the 800-meter at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships in March. McCarthy is the first Cal Poly men’s track and field athlete to secure Division I First Team All-American honors in an event on the track indoors and just the third overall, joining Mohinder Gill and Reynaldo Brown.
At the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, McCarthy became the first Mustang in program history to secure First Team All-American honors in the men's 800 by finishing seventh at the national meet (1:46.78). He also became the first Mustang in 12 years to earn First Team All-American status.
McCarthy is the current school record holder in the outdoor 800, indoor 800, indoor 1,000 and mile. The Pleasanton, Calif. native won the Big West title in the men’s 800 for the third time to become just the second athlete ever to do so and claimed his first conference title in the men’s 1,500 with a meet record time (3:39.35) to become just the fifth athlete in Big West history to sweep the men’s 800 and 1,500. During this year’s indoor season, McCarthy also ran the fastest indoor 800 by an American in collegiate history (1:45.19).
McCarthy placed fifth in the NCAA West Prelims (1:47.01) to qualify for nationals and enters the meet with the eighth-fastest time ran in the nation this season (1:45.53). McCarthy is in the second of three heats in the men’s 800 semifinals and will have to contend with the likes of 2025 NCAA indoor runner-up Abdullahi Hassan and 2024 NCAA outdoor runner-up Sam Whitmarsh in his heat. At NCAAs in 2023, McCarthy won his semifinal heat and had the second fastest time across the three heats.
Follow Cal Poly track and field on Twitter/X and Instagram for live updates on all three Mustangs throughout the NCAA Championships.
