Redshirt junior Aidan McCarthy concluded a standout season for Cal Poly’s track and field program with a fifth-place finish in the men’s 800-meter final at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships, held Friday night at Hayward Field, University of Oregon.
McCarthy completed the race in 1:46.88, earning First Team All-American honors for the second time this year. Earlier in March, he took third place in the same event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. This marks his second outdoor First Team All-American honor after finishing seventh at last year’s NCAA meet during his debut appearance.
On Friday, McCarthy aimed to become Cal Poly’s sixth Division I outdoor national champion in men’s track and field and its first since 1973. He became the first Cal Poly athlete since Sharon Day-Monroe in 2008 to secure two Division I All-American finishes in the same event within one year. The last male athlete from Cal Poly to accomplish this was Reynaldo Brown, who won the high jump national title outdoors and tied for fifth indoors in 1973.
McCarthy is now a three-time First Team All-American across indoor and outdoor seasons, making him only the eighth three-time Division I All-American in school history. He joins Mohinder Gill, Reynaldo Brown, Kaaron Conwright, Paula Serrano, Stephanie Brown Trafton, Kaylene Wagner, and Sharon Day-Monroe on that list. McCarthy is also Cal Poly’s first three-time All-American since Day-Monroe achieved seven such honors between 2004 and 2008.
Reflecting on his achievements this season: “The career best finish outdoors for McCarthy wrapped up one of the most historic years by a Cal Poly athlete on the track in program history.” He was named the 2025 Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet after winning conference titles in both the 800 meters (his third) and 1,500 meters (his first). Additionally, he set an American collegiate record for fastest indoor 800 meters (1:45.19), broke multiple school records—including those for outdoor and indoor distances—and became just the third men’s Division I indoor All-American from Cal Poly since 1973. These accomplishments followed his recovery from a stress fracture that sidelined him during most of last year’s competition.
Alongside McCarthy’s performance, Rory Devaney placed fifth in men’s hammer throw earlier this week. Together they helped Cal Poly accumulate eight team points—tying them with four other schools for a share of 37th place overall at nationals. This result represents Cal Poly men’s fifth-highest team finish at a Division I meet and their best showing since tying for 36th place with six points back in 2000. The eight-point total matches their second-best ever at this level; only their tenth-place squad from 1961 scored more with thirteen-and-a-quarter points.
Travis Martin finished tenth in men’s hammer throw as well; as a result three Mustangs earned outdoor All-American honors—two on First Team and one on Second Team—for just the third time ever by any Mustang squad during a single season and only twice before among men (the last being in 1979).
This year marked another milestone: it was also only the second time since joining Division I that three individual athletes qualified for nationals representing Cal Poly men—a feat previously matched by teams from both genders combined but not exceeded by any single men’s squad except those from prior decades.
All three qualifiers—McCarthy, Devaney, and Martin—are expected to return next season. McCarthy has one remaining year of eligibility each for indoor and outdoor track but none left for cross country.
