Men's, Women's Track & Field Earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors
7/22/2025 3:00:00 PM | Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Seven 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 for their dedication and success in the classroom.
Rory Devaney, Lexi Evans, Corban Payne, Spencer Pickren, Carson Smith, Chase Walter and Lewis Westwood were all named All-Academic Athletes by the USTFCCCA, while the Mustang men’s and women’s teams both secured All-Academic Team honors.
To receive All-Academic Team status, programs must post a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. To earn 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 or finishing the season with a top 48 mark in the East or West Region.
This is the third straight year Devaney and Evans have garnered All-Academic Athlete recognition. For Payne and Westwood, this is their second consecutive season securing the honor, while Pickren, Smith and Walter are all first-time honorees.
The honor for Devaney is just another for the hammer throw phenom who etched his name in the Cal Poly history books this spring. The forest and fire sciences major placed fifth in the men’s hammer throw at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn First Team All-American honors and become the Mustangs’ highest NCAA finisher in a field event on the men’s side since 2007. He is the current school record holder in the men's hammer throw, discus and weight throw.
The academic praise for Evans comes as no surprise as she recently became the 15th athlete in Cal Poly history to receive CSC Academic All-America honors and the seventh track & field/cross country athlete, securing Third Team honors. The aerospace engineering major shattered the school record in the women’s pole vault by over 5 inches this season, won her second straight Big West title and finished in a tie for 14th at the NCAA West Preliminary meet, two places short of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
Payne qualified for the West Prelims in the men’s shot put for the second straight year. Payne moved up to No. 2 all-time in the shot put in his final season with a lifetime best of 60 feet, 4.5 inches (18.40 meters) and placed third in the event at this year’s Big West Championships to garner All-Big West honors for the first time.
Pickren made his third consecutive trip to the West Prelims in the men’s 1,500-meter this spring, running the sixth-fastest 1,500 in school history (3:41.16). He secured All-Big West honors for the second time in his career by finishing third in the men’s 5,000 at the conference meet and took fourth in the 1,500 to score a total of 11 team points for the Mustangs.
Smith posted the fourth-fastest men’s 1,500 time in school history this season (3:38.76) to qualify for the West Prelims for the second straight year. The Temecula, Calif. native secured a pair of podium finishes at the Big West Championships, capturing second in the men’s 1,500 for the second straight year (3:39.61), surpassing the previous meet record in the process, and finishing third in the 800 to score a total of 14 team points.
Walter, who spent his first two years at Cal Poly (2021-22) as a submarine-style pitcher on the Cal Poly baseball team, finished his Mustang career this spring as one of the most successful male sprinters to come through the program in recent memory. This year, he shattered the indoor school records in the men’s 400 and 600, ran the second-fastest outdoor 400 in program history and posted the third fastest outdoor 800 time in the team’s history. He also helped Cal Poly obliterate a 46-year-old school record in the men’s 4x400 relay.
Westwood became a two-time West Prelims qualifier this spring, making it to the postseason meet for the first time in the men’s 800 after earning a spot a year ago in the 1,500. The environmental engineering major and San Luis Obispo native ran the fourth fastest 800 time in school history (1:47.97) this season.
