NCAA Indoor Championships
Cornejo, Evans Set to Compete in NCAA Indoor Championships
3/12/2026 10:00:00 PM | Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Tatiana Cornejo and Lexi Evans, a pair of standouts on the women’s track and field team, will represent Cal Poly on the national stage when they compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships this Friday and Saturday at the Randal Tyson Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Cornejo races in the semifinals of the women’s mile at 3:05 p.m. PDT Friday with the top four finishers in each of the two heats along with the next two fastest times earning a spot in the 10-person final at 2:10 p.m. PDT Saturday. Evans takes part in the women’s pole vault final at 2 p.m. PDT Saturday.
The entirety of the meet can be seen live on ESPN+with live results available HERE.
Making their first NCAA Championship appearances, both Cornejo and Evans are just grateful to have earned the opportunity to compete on this stage.
“Nattys together, we’re kind of just ready to take it on … and just appreciate the fact that we’re even there,” Cornejo said.
Evans and Cornejo are the first Cal Poly women to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships since three-time indoor All-American and Olympian Sharon Day-Monroe competed in the 2008 meet, taking second in the high jump. This is also just the fifth time in the history of the Cal Poly women’s track and field program that the Mustangs have had multiple qualifiers for the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships during a season.
Only the 16 individual marks/times nationally in each event qualify for NCAA Indoors, so just making it is a historic feat neither is taking for granted.
Both athletes have been of the cusp of making nationals for the last several years, so it certainly felt good to finally break through.
“I didn’t put myself under any expectations of qualify for nationals at the start of indoor,” Evans said. “I think I’m just genuinely excited to be going, and I plan on just putting my best effort forward … and I look forward to seeing what nationals is like and for the opportunity to compete alongside so many other amazing women.”
For Evans, a trip to outdoor nationals has just barely eluded the San Diego native the last two years, most notably last season when she finished two places short of qualifying for NCAAs by tying for 14th at the NCAA West Preliminaries. She took one more attempt than the 12th-place finisher, Baylor’s Tenly Kuhn, who earned the last of 12 spots to NCAAs from the West Region.
Evans had an immediate impact on the program the moment she stepped on campus in 2022-23, but she admits she was a little disappointed by her performances during her freshmen and sophomore years. Evans entered college with a personal best of 14 feet (4.26 meters) in the pole vault, but failed to surpass that mark from her time at Scripps Ranch High during her first two years as a Mustang. Despite that, she still qualified for the NCAA West Prelims both years, and claimed the Big West women’s pole vault title in 2024.
“It was the first time I didn’t PR in a season,” she said. “I had to step back and realize I was progressing.”
Even amidst the frustration, Evans said she could tell she was close to breaking through — and last year she did. It all started at last year’s Conover Classic when she obliterated the school record in the outdoor pole vault by over 5 inches with a mark of 14 feet, 5.25 inches (4.40m). She then went on to capture her second straight Big West pole vault title — the fourth back-to-back champ in conference history and the second in Cal Poly history — with a mark that was just 1.25 inches off the Big West meet record before finishing one bar short of advancing to nationals at West Prelims.
She built off that outdoor season this winter indoors and reached even greater heights, cementing herself as one of the best vaulters in the country. At the UW Invite on Jan. 31, Evans competed alongside 2025 NCAA Outdoor champion Hana Moll and 2025 NCAA Indoor champion Amanda Moll and left her mark, clearing an all-around lifetime best of 14 feet, 8.25 inches (4.48 meters) — tied for No. 6 in the nation at the time. Two weeks later at the same facility, Evans added to her mark and school record by soaring over the bar at 14-9.5 (4.51m) to take first at the Husky Classic. That latest mark has her seeded No. 6 heading into this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships.
Evans certainly feels the competition at the University of Washington meets this indoor season — which saw four women soar over 4.40m — helped her achieve another level this indoor season, but also attributes her sensational season so far to all the countless hours she’s been putting in over the last three years.
“My jumps were looking really good towards the end of last year,” she said, “and we started jumping earlier in the year this year, so I had more time to get back to where I left off, so I think that was a big aid.
This year and last have been really exciting with the PRs, and it’s now super rewarding to see I’m consistently jumping the best I ever have at every meet.”
Growing up, Evans tried other track events, taking a crack at being a sprinter and even giving cross country a go, where she remembers placing last in her first junior varsity cross country meet. Nothing really hooked her until a friend introduced her to pole vault. It didn’t take her long to fall in love with the unique event, and the rest is history.
“It’s such a funny sport from an outside perspective,” Evans said about pole vaulting. “You run with a giant stick and jump over a bar … but I think there’s a lot of different aspects to it that are all interesting to explore in a way that’s different from other events.”
And as an aerospace engineering major, there’s just something about the event that aligns with the way the 2024-25 Third Team Academic All-American operates.
“It’s a super technical event and I find myself really enjoying technical topics,” she said. “There’s a joke in my family that I hate being on the ground.”
The community feel pole vaulting offers is also something that has allowed Evans become so attached to the event.
“It never feels like you’re going against someone else to win,” she said. “You’re all supporting each other and really happy when other people are there jumping with you, which is something I really love about vault.”
A year ago, Cornejo made it a goal of hers to make nationals within the next year. After a remarkable performance in Boston nearly three weeks ago, the Elk Grove, Calif. native made that goal a reality. But at the start of the indoor season, a trip to nationals was far from Cornejo’s mind.
The two-time Big West 1,500-meter champion opened her indoor season on Jan. 17 with a disappointing showing in the mile at the UW Preview, running a time of 4:49.61 while battling back from an illness. After redshirting during cross country in the fall, that race in UW was Cornejo’s first since finishing 21st in the 5,000 at the NCAA West Prelims last outdoor season.
A time that was over three seconds off her mile personal best entering the season wasn’t quite the way Cornejo had envisioned returning to action, so inevitably the performance got her down. But, with the help of women’s cross country head coach Michelle Chewens, Cornejo was able to refocus and put the performance in the past, and for the rest of the indoor season she was determined to do one thing — have fun. And soon, the results and blistering times followed.
Two weeks after that indoor season-opening race, Cornejo ran a nearly 8-second lifetime best in the mile (4:38.53). Then in the next meet in Seattle on Feb. 13-14, Cornejo obliterated a 43-year-old school record in the women’s indoor 3,000-meter by nearly eight seconds (9:07.61) and ran another personal best in the mile (4:37.77).
“Being injured in the fall made me realize that being able to run in itself is a privilege, and being able to race is a privilege,” Cornejo said. “It’s no longer for me about how many school records can I get, what time can I get, it’s more about being in the race and staying competitive, and pushing my body to its limit or beyond.”
That mindset carried her one step further and all the way to indoor nationals a week later in Boston when she dropped a massive lifetime best in the mile of 4:29.90, the 22nd fastest time in Division I this season and 4.5 seconds faster than Teena Colebrook’s 1987 school record (4:33.4).
When Cornejo crossed the finish line, she couldn’t believe the time. She needed some convincing from coach Chewens over the phone to let her know that she did indeed run that time. Just over a week later, Cornejo learned she had earned a trip to NCAAs based on scratches in the event and she broke down in tears when her coach told her the news.
“It means a lot,” Cornejo said about making it to nationals. “This is the highest level of competition you can get to in collegiate sports and it’s also one of the harder events to qualify for, so I’m very honored to have the opportunity to compete alongside women who are the best in our sport.”
Cornejo’s Cal Poly career has been nothing short of incredible. She is the current school record holder in four events on the track, a three-time Big West individual champion, the 2024 Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, a two-time NCAA West Prelims qualifier and a five-time All-Big West honoree in track. In cross country, she has been a part of three Big West Championship teams and secured All-West Region honors twice, becoming Cal Poly’s first multiple-time All-Region honoree in eight years.
But a trip to NCAAs might just take the cake. This week in Fayetteville, the first Mustang in program history on the men’s or women’s side to qualify for indoor nationals in the mile isn’t setting any expectations for herself, she’s just going to enjoy the moment.
“Nationals is more of a tactical race and I just want to stay in it and stay as competitive as I can,” Cornejo said. “I don’t want to count myself out of making the final … so hopefully when it comes down to the final 400-600 meters, I can turn the kick on and go with the rest of the pack and make it.”
For Evans and Cornejo, qualifying for nationals in the same season and getting a chance to experience the moment together is something truly special. The two have become close friends over the last few years while competing in postseason meets across the country with bids to nationals on the line. And now with both breaking through and finally making it to the biggest stage at the same time, it almost feels like it was meant to be.
“It’s super exciting and I’m really glad she gets to go as well,” Evans said. “We don’t get a chance to interact much in season with her being on distance, our practices are at completely different times, but whenever we cross paths, mostly during postseason, it’s always a good time to catch up and congratulate each other on all of our successes.”
Cornejo said it will be nice to have someone else to root for, and help ease any nerves she may experience during her first appearance at NCAAs.
“I love just hyping [Lexi] up,” Cornejo said, “so if I don’t make it to the final, that will definitely be the highlight of my day Saturday is just watching her compete. Especially during Women’s History Month for two women from our team to make it to nationals is pretty amazing.”
