Cal Poly TF/XC Adds Martinez de Pinillos to 2026-27 Coaching Staff
8/16/2026 7:30:00 PM | Cross Country, Track and Field
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, who ran at Cal Poly in 2024 and competed at Wake Forest from 2018-23, has been named an assistant coach for the Cal Poly track & field and cross country programs, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jake Stewart announced.
Martinez de Pinillos, who helped Wake Forest earn three consecutive top 15 team finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships from 2021-22, will assist the distance runners on the Mustang track & field and cross country teams.
“I’m just extremely grateful for this opportunity to help support this exceptional group of young men and women,” he said.
Across five seasons competing at Wake Forest (2018-23), Martinez de Pinillos posted five marks that currently sit on the Demon Deacons’ all-time top 10 list in track and field. In the spring of 2022, the San Diego native and 2018 Cathedral Catholic High grad ran the seventh-fastest outdoor 5,000-meter time in school history (13:39.83) and the eighth-fastest 10,000-meter (29:07.07), qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminaries in both events. He also qualified for the East Prelims in 2021 in the 5,000.
In cross country, Martinez de Pinillos helped the Demon Deacons capture their first Atlantic Coast Conference title in 28 years during his final season with the program in 2022, aiding the team to an historic fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships while serving as a team captain. Wake Forest also placed 10th and 15th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships while Martinez de Pinillos was on the team, and in 2021 he finished 16th in the NCAA Southeast Regional with a personal best 10K time to earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors.
After earning his bachelor's in communications and a master’s of science in management at Wake Forest, Martinez de Pinillos transferred to Cal Poly for his final season of eligibility in track and field in the spring of 2024, helping Cal Poly capture its first Big West Championship in men’s track and field in program history by scoring team points for the Mustangs in both the 5,000 (eighth) and 10,000 (seventh).
It was a very easy decision for me because I believe in this program, I believe in the philosophies that are being instilled here and I believe in the people that are running for the team.Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, Cal Poly Assistant Coach
Since wrapping up his collegiate career, Martinez de Pinillos has remained in the San Luis Obispo area, coaching countless runners both in-person and virtually. The past two years, he’s served as the head track & field and cross country coach at SLO Classical Academy High School, helping the program more than triple its team size and achieve unprecedented success. While overseeing the program, SLO Classical athletes combined to record 67 personal bests, 22 school records and six All-County performances all in one track season. Last year, Eli Enney won SLO Classical’s first ever CIF Division 4 Southern Section IV title in the boys 400-meter.
Martinez de Pinillos also started the SLO Track Club this past fall, mentoring competitive runners at Cal Poly and in the area looking to improve and potentially receive attention from the Mustangs and other collegiate teams.
“When I got the call about the position here,” he said, “It was a very easy decision for me because I believe in this program, I believe in the philosophies that are being instilled here and I believe in the people that are running for the team. … the location, the education and everything Cal Poly has to offer outside of running is a really incredible thing, but at the end of the day, it’s this team I’m here for.”
Martinez de Pinillos, who earned a master’s degree in public policy from Cal Poly in 2025, wants to help the Mustangs continue their recent historic success and share the knowledge and lessons he learned as a student-athlete with the team.
“I’m really excited to support the team in the best way possible, and continue to build off what has already been established,” he said. “The brotherhood and sisterhood that comes along with running cross country and track and field is special and something I really valued while being part of a college team, and I hope to share that with the current student athletes.”
