The Cal Poly track and field program concluded the NCAA West Preliminaries on May 30 with five athletes qualifying for the national championships.
Grace Proudfoot and Isabella Rigby were the only Mustangs competing on the final day of women’s events at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In her first appearance at West Prelims, Proudfoot cleared 5 feet, 7.25 inches in the women’s high jump on her second attempt but did not advance past the next height of 5-9.25 (1.76m), finishing 41st overall. Proudfoot, a graduate transfer from Oregon State, recorded a lifetime best of 5-10 (1.78m) earlier this season, which ties for sixth best in school history.
Rigby also made her debut at West Prelims and placed 38th in the women’s discus with a throw of 159-0 (48.47m). The redshirt senior achieved a mark of 168-11 (51.50m) this season to qualify for regionals, ranking third-best all-time at Cal Poly.
The Mustangs finished the meet with five athletes advancing to nationals: Chris Caudillo in men’s 1,500-meter; Lexi Evans in women’s pole vault; Ben Feyrer in men’s pole vault; Travis Martin in men’s hammer throw; and Carson Smith in men’s 1,500-meter. This is the highest number of NCAA qualifiers for Cal Poly since the adoption of the current two-regional format in 2010.
These five athletes will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field from June 10 to June 13.
