Vanhoy Named Big West Men's Track Coach of the Year
6/18/2026 12:05:00 PM | Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After leading the Mustangs to their third straight Big West Championship on the men’s side, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy has been named the Big West Men’s Track Coach of the Year, the conference office announced Thursday.
It’s Vanhoy’s third straight year winning the award. He’s the fourth coach in conference history to receive the award three consecutive times and the first since Andy Sythe (Long Beach State) won it four straight seasons from 2013-16.
Between track and cross country, Vanhoy is now an eight-time Coach of the Year recipient (four track, four cross country).
The honor comes on the heels of one of the most successful outdoor track and field seasons in Division I program history for the Mustangs. This past week in Eugene at the NCAA Championships, the Cal Poly men saw fifth-year Travis Martin (hammer throw) and junior Chris Caudillo (1,500-meter) both secure First Team All-American honors. In addition, senior Carson Smith (1,500) and sophomore Ben Feyrer (pole vault) both earned Honorable Mention All-American status, giving the Mustang men four All-Americans outdoors — their most in a single season in Division I program history.
With 6 points, the Cal Poly men finished in a tie for 37th as a team at the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, tied for the Mustangs’ fifth highest team finish ever at the meet.
Senior Lexi Evans (women’s pole vault) also grabbed First Team All-American honors for the Cal Poly women in Eugene, marking the eighth time in program history the Mustangs have boasted at least three outdoor First Team All-Americans during a season across the men’s and women’s programs. The five total outdoor All-Americans this season are a new Division I program record.
The Cal Poly men cruised to their third Big West title in program history and third straight, finishing an incredible 49.5 points in front of second-place Cal State Fullerton with 201.5 points — the most by the Big West Champion under the current 10-team conference championship format. Cal Poly became the first three-peat champion on the men’s side since CSUF in 2021-23 and just the sixth school in conference history to accomplish the feat.
Cal Poly’s Big West Championship victory was spearheaded by an impressive 141 points from the distance squad across the men’s 800-meter, 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 and 3,000 steeplechase, all events Vanhoy oversees. The Mustangs swept the top three places in four events — the 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 and steeplechase.
The Mustangs earned a program record 19 entries in the NCAA West Preliminaries between the men’s and women’s teams, and the Cal Poly men recorded their second most entries ever (13) at the meet. Cal Poly ultimately qualified five athletes for this year’s NCAA Championships, a new program record since the two regional format was adopted in 2010.
