Travis Martin secured a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second consecutive year and three Cal Poly Mustangs advanced to the 1,500-meter quarterfinals during the first day of the NCAA West Prelims at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on May 27.
Nine of Cal Poly’s 13 men’s entries competed on the opening day. In the meet’s first event, Martin overcame fouls on his initial two attempts in the men’s hammer throw and recorded a mark of 223 feet, 3 inches (68.04 meters) on his third attempt. This result placed him seventh overall in the prelims and earned one of twelve qualifying spots for nationals scheduled June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon.
Martin became Cal Poly’s first two-time national qualifier in men’s hammer throw since joining Division I. Last year, he finished fifth at West Prelims and later took tenth place at NCAAs to earn Second Team All-American honors.
Shortly after Martin qualified, Chris Caudillo advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals in the men’s 1,500-meter with a time of 3:40.15—fastest among non-automatic qualifiers—placing sixth in his heat and tenth overall. Aidan McCarthy and Carson Smith also reached Friday’s quarterfinals following a successful protest by Cal Poly after Smith was pushed off track during his heat; Smith was reinstated as he was impeded while holding a qualifying position, while McCarthy secured his spot based on time (3:41.61). Twenty-five runners will compete for trips to nationals when quarterfinals are held Friday afternoon.
Conrad Bernstein narrowly missed qualification for nationals by finishing fourteenth in men’s javelin with a mark of 221 feet, 9 inches (67.59 meters), just two places short. Bernstein is this year’s Big West champion and previously set a lifetime best earlier this season that ranks fourth all-time at Cal Poly.
Other results included Aiden Pastorian placing thirtieth in shot put; Vincent Atilano finishing thirty-third in men’s 400 hurdles; Colby Neron taking forty-second and Lucas Scott forty-eighth in javelin. Ben Feyrer’s pole vault event was rescheduled due to weather delays.
