Cal Poly Track and Field tore it up over the weekend at the Big West Championships at Jack Rose Track in Long Beach.
The Mustang men won their second straight Big West title, while the women placed second by just 1.5 points. Both teams combined for eight medals, matching their total from last year when they swept the men’s and women’s titles.
Distances runners take men to victory
Coming into the Big West Championships, Cal Poly’s men were ranked the highest out of any squad in the conference according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Track and Field Ratings Index.
The squad made sure not to disappoint, winning the Big West title with a score of 186 points.
Cal Poly’s distance team made waves at the meet, as two members captured victory in multiple events to help propel the men to a conference title.
Redshirt junior Aidan McCarthy played a large part in the win.
After being out with injury for last year’s conference championships, the indoor All-American continued his dominant 2025, earning titles in both the men’s 800 and 1500-meter dashes.
The Mustangs swept the top four finishes in the 1500, with junior Carson Smith, sophomore Chris Caudillo and senior Spencer Pickren taking the following three finishes, respectively.
McCarthy’s two victories not only marked a personal comeback but also set the tone for the other breakout performances from the distance squad.
Redshirt junior Michael Chambers also won two events, winning his first Big West titles in both the men’s 5000-meter and 3000-meter steeplechase.
The two athletes won all four events for the Mustang men.
Other standout performances are seniors Travis Martin and Colby Neron, who both placed second in the men’s hammer throw and javelin, respectively.
Mustang women come up just short of win
On the women’s side, Cal Poly came just over a point shy of capturing their second straight Big West title.
Junior Tatiana Cornejo captured victory in the women’s 1500-meter dash. The Elk Grove native took her second straight conference title in the event, following up last season where she won in both the 1500 and 800.
Fellow junior Lexi Evans also retained her title, earning the win in the pole vault with a leap of 14 feet.
The rest of the distance team continued it’s dominance over the weekend, with victories in the women’s 5,000 by redshirt senior Schuyler Gooley and the women’s 3,000 steeplechase by redshirt junior Isabel Sanchez.
The Cal Poly women totaled a score of 149, just behind UC Irvine with 150.5.
The Mustangs will now wait for the NCAA Preliminary qualifiers to be announced before preparing for the NCAA West Regionals on Wednesday, May 28.