The Cal Poly men’s track and field team won its third straight Big West Championship on May 17 at Long Beach State’s Jack Rose Track, while the women’s team secured a top-three finish for the fourth year in a row.
This achievement highlights the strength of Cal Poly’s distance squad, which contributed significantly to the team’s victory. The men finished with 201.5 points, leading by 49.5 points over second-place Cal State Fullerton. This total is the highest scored by any Big West Champion under the current 10-team format since Cal Poly joined the conference in the 1996-97 season.
The men’s team was led by an impressive showing in distance events, sweeping podium spots in four races and scoring a combined 141 points across five key competitions: the 800-meter, 1,500-meter, 5,000-meter, 10,000-meter and steeplechase. Eight Mustangs earned individual titles on the men’s side: Conrad Bernstein (javelin), Rory Catsimanes (10,000), Tyler Daillak (5,000), Ben Feyrer (pole vault), Bryce Kueker (3,000 steeplechase), Travis Martin (hammer throw), Aidan McCarthy (800) and Carson Smith (1,500). Notably, Aidan McCarthy became “the first four-time 800 champion in Big West history” as well as one of only three Mustangs to win four conference titles in one event.
On the women’s side, Cal Poly finished third with a score of 105 points behind UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. Lexi Evans won her third straight pole vault title while breaking a meet record. Kelli Gaffney took first place in the women’s 10,000 meters and second place in the women’s 5,000 meters.
Overall at this year’s two-day championship meet that began Friday, Cal Poly athletes captured ten individual conference titles between both teams—the most ever for their program—and walked away with twenty-eight All-Big West honorees after numerous top-three finishes across various events.
Looking ahead to national competition opportunities for Mustang athletes: “The Mustangs will now wait to learn which athletes have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries hosted by the University of Arkansas on May 27-30 at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville.” The full list of qualifiers from each region will be announced Thursday.
