Cal Poly Track & Field Makes History, Sweeping Big West Team Titles - Cal Poly (2024)

FINAL RESULTS

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The word historic truly doesn't do justice to what occurred at the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex this weekend.

Serving as the host of the Big West Track & Field Championships for the first time in program history, Cal Poly became the first school in 14 years to sweep the men's and women's conference titles. For the Mustang men, it was their first Big West championship in program history. For the women, it was their second and first since 2021.

The Mustangs also swept the men's and women's cross country Big West titles in the fall, and Cal Poly's remarkable showing on the final day of the track & field conference meet Saturday allowed the program to achieve a feat no other school in the history of the Big West has ever accomplished. Cal Poly is the first team in Big West history to win all four of the men's and women's cross country and track & field conference championships in a single academic year (this case 2023-24) since the conference began sponsoring both men's and women's cross country and track & field in 1983-84. Fresno State in 1988 is the only school in Big West history to win all four titles in the same calendar year, a feat Cal Poly will have a chance to match during the 2024 cross country season.

In order to attain such a monumental feat, Cal Poly needed to receive one incredible performance after another on both sides during the two-day track meet — and they did. The Mustangs captured eight Big West individual titles as sixth-year Will Fallini-Haas (men's 5,000 and 10,000 meters), junior Melody Nwagwu (women's long jump and triple jump) and sophom*ore Tatiana Cornejo (women's 800 and 1,500) each won two, and graduate student Davis Bove (men's 1,500) and sophom*ore Lexi Evans (women's pole vault) both won one. Overall, 25 Mustangs and two relays earned All-Big West honors by placing in the top three in their respective events.

Below is a list of many achievements, performances and records accomplished at the meet that allowed the Cal Poly track and field program to make history this Friday and Saturday at the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex:

• The Cal Poly men finished with 185 team points, beating out second place Cal State Fullerton by 17 points.
• The Cal Poly women ended the meet with 130.75 points, edging out second place UC Irvine by 11.75 points.
• Prior to winning this year, the Mustang men had placed second as a team nine times since joining the Big West.
• Tatiana Cornejo became the first athlete in Mustang history to sweep the Big West titles in the women's 800 and 1,500. She is just the second Mustang to win a Big West title in the women's 1,500, joining Vanessa Hanco*ck (2011). Cornejo is also just the third Mustang in school history to earn a Big West championship in the women's 800 and the first since Lea Wallace in 2007. Cornejo's performance allowed her to score 20 team points and be named Big West Women's Track Athlete of the Meet.
• Melody Nwagwu became the first Big West athlete since 1991 and the third overall to sweep the Big West titles in the women's long jump and triple jump. Nwagwu leaped a lifetime best in both events on her final attempt to score 20 team points. Nwagwu is the third Mustang in school history to claim a championship in the women's long jump and the first since Whitney Sisler in 2012. Nwagwu posted a personal best of 20 feet, 3.75 inches in the long jump, good for No. 2 all-time in school history. In the triple jump, Nwagwu recorded a PR of 42-0, moving her to No. 4 on Cal Poly's all-time list.
• In his third appearance at the Big West Track & Field Championships, Fallini-Haas swept the men's 5,000 and 10,000, becoming the fourth Mustang to do so and the first since Swarnjit Boyal in 2018. Fallini-Haas ran a PR (30:18.71) to win the 10,000 Friday night and scored 20 team points with his two victories.
• After placing runner-up a year ago, Lexi Evans cleared a collegiate best (13-10) to win the women's pole vault championship, becoming the fifth Mustang in school history to claim a title in the event. Her mark ranks No. 2 in school history and is just 2 inches off the program record (14-0, 2021).
• Davis Bove sprinted to the Big West title in the men's 1,500 in his first and only Big West track & field meet, becoming the ninth Mustang to take first in the event. Bove also finished runner-up in the men's 5,000, scoring 18 total team points for the men.
• Cal Poly swept the top three places in the men's 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000. Between the three events, the Mustangs scored a whooping 91 team points.
• Noah Bustos, MacGregor TeSelle, Joey Souto and Ryan Teeple led Cal Poly to a second-place finish in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the meet with a time of 40.59 seconds, the fastest by the Mustangs since posting a time of 39.99 in 2004.
• In the final track event of the meet, Chase Walter, Joey Souto, MacGregor TeSelle and Levi Romero posted the second-fastest time in school history in the men's 4x400 relay (3:08.96) to take home third.
• Graduate Shelby Daniele ran a wind-aided PR (+2.3 m/s) of 23.51 seconds in the women's 200 to capture second. Daniele finishes her Cal Poly career as a four-time All-Big West individual honoree. She also placed fourth in the 100.
• Freshman Melanie Castelli secured second in the women's high jump, matching her collegiate best in the event (5-7.25). Cal Poly scored 13.75 points in that event alone.
• Junior Travis Martin and sophom*ore Rory Devaney placed second (221-3) and third (204-1) respectively in the men's hammer throw, scoring 14 team points. It's the second straight year Devaney has earned All-Big West honors in the event. Devaney also grabbed second in the discus (179-7) at the Big West Championships.
• Freshman Jordan Jackson placed third in the women's 400, running the sixth-fastest time in school history (54.89) and the best by a Mustang in 21 years.
• Senior Chase Walter captured third in the men's 400 with the ninth-fastest time in school history (46.99 seconds).
• Freshman Kalia Estes secured second in the women's 400 hurdles with a time of 1:00.79. She posted a PR of 1:00.75 during prelims Friday, .08 seconds off No. 10 on Cal Poly's all-time list.
• Sophom*ore MacGregor TeSelle ran a wind-aided PR (+2.1 m/s) in the men's 200 to take third. TeSelle also earned two more podium finishes by running legs on Cal Poly's 4x100 and 4x400 relays, contributing to 20 team points.
• Senior Joey Souto contributed to 18 team points for the men, running legs on the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and finishing fifth in the 400 hurdles. Souto's time of 52.29 seconds in the 400 hurdles was a lifetime best.
• Sophom*ore Chase Kubinski scored 10.5 points for the Cal Poly women by tying for third in the high jump and placing fourth in the javelin.
• Freshman Chris Caudillo contributed 10 points toward the men's team title by grabbing third in the 1,500 and fifth in the 5,000.
• Redshirt junior Colton Swinth (second, men's 10,000), junior Hana Catsimanes (second, women's 10,000), sophom*ore Carson Smith (second, men's 800), junior Spencer Pickren (third, men's 5,000), junior Bryce Kueker (third, men's 3,000 steeplechase) and freshman Aidan Dimick (men's 10,000) also earned podium finishes for the Mustangs.

UP NEXT: The Mustangs will now wait to learn which of their athletes have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries hosted by the University of Arkansas on May 22-25 in Fayetteville. The full field, comprised of the top 48 individual marks and top 24 relay times in the West Region, will be announced Thursday.

Big West Track & Field Championships
Cal Poly Final Results

WOMEN
Team Scores: 1, Cal Poly, 130.75. 2, UC Irvine, 119. 3, Hawai'i, 102.5. 4, Long Beach State, 93.75. 5, UC Riverside, 93. 6, Cal State Fullerton, 85.5. 7, UC Davis, 76. 8, UC Santa Barbara, 55. 9, CSUN, 52. 10, Cal State Bakersfield, 11.5.
100-meter: 4, Shelby Daniele, 11.58.
200-meter: 2, Shelby Daniele, 23.51. 15, Anisa Rind, 25.06.
400-meter: 5, Jordan Jackson, 54.89. 7. Elianah DeMange, 56.08. 18, Katelyn Carro, 58.29.
800-meter: 1, Tatiana Cornejo, 2:10.52. 18, Cassidy Hubert, 2:17.04.
1,500-meter: 1, Tatiana Cornejo, 4:28.25. 5, Sophia Nordenholz, 4:31.59. 8, Riley Cash, 4:33.98. 14, Kelli Gaffney, 4:40.89.
5,000-meter: 4, Sophia Nordenholz, 16:43.14. 8, Hana Catsimanes, 17:02.05. 15, Isabel Sanchez, 17:37.41. 18, Riley Cash, 17:46.28. 20, Kelli Gaffney, 17:52.39. 22, Ellie Baxter, 18:00.99.
10,000-meter: 2, Hana Catsimanes, 34:59.17. 7, Ellie Baxter, 36:39.94. 12, Ashlyn Leath, 37:20.44.
400-meter hurdles: 2, Kalia Estes, 1:00.79.
3,000-meter steeplechase: 5, Isabel Sanchez, 10:52.24. 6, Nina St. John, 10:54.22. 11, Sydney Sundgren, 11:16.13.
4x100-meter relay: 9, Cal Poly (Anisa Rind, Cadence Roy-Williams, Melody Nwagwu, Jadyn Snaer), 46.83.
4x400-meter relay: 8, Cal Poly (Anisa Rind, Cassidy Hubert, Shelby Daniele, Katelyn Carro), 3:54.38.
High jump: 2, Melanie Castelli, 5-7.25. T3, Chase Kubinski, 5-5.25. T8, Maia Garcia, 5-3.25. 16, Lariel Henley, 5-1.25.
Pole vault: 1, Levi Evans, 13-10. 6, Logan Hays, 12-4.75.
Long jump: 1, Melody Nwagwu, 20-3.75. 8, Cadence Roy-Williams, 18-8.5.
Triple jump: 1, Melody Nwagwu, 42-0.
Shot put: 20, Taylor Hofland, 39-11.5.
Discus: 16, Isabella Rigby, 112-3.
Javelin: 4, Chase Kubinski, 140-0. 14, Bella Martinez, 119-7.

MEN
Team Scores: 1, Cal Poly, 185. Cal State Fullerton, 168. 3, Long Beach State, 152. 4, CSUN, 99. 5, UC Irvine, 89. 6, UC Santa Barbara, 53. 7, UC Davis, 34. 8, UC Riverside, 27. 9, Cal State Bakersfield, 10.
100-meter: 10, MacGregor TeSelle, 10.57.
200-meter: 3, MacGregor TeSelle, 20.81.
400-meter: 3, Chase Walter, 46.99. 7, Alexander Franco, 47.93.
800-meter: 4, Quinton Alexander, 1:53.44. Carson Smith, DQ.
1,500-meter: 1, Davis Bove, 3:43.40. 2, Carson Smith, 3:44.42. 3, Chris Caudillo, 3:45.23. 5, Lewis Westwood, 3:46.93. 6, Spencer Pickren, 3:47.46. 11, Mateo Malko-Allen, 3:56.79.
5,000-meter: 1, Will Fallini-Haas, 14:26.15. 2, Davis Bove, 14:26.37. 3, Spencer Pickren, 14:30.38. 5, Chris Caudillo, 14:31.96. 7, Aidan Dimick, 14:33.02. 8, Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, 14:38.44. 11, Ethan Miller, 14:42.10. 15, Colton Swinth, 14:45.24. 23, Michael Chambers, 14:56.22. 24, Bryce Kueker, 14:58.29. 29, Erik Luu, 15:09.40. 33, Jude DeVries, 15:15.77. 37, Lewis Westwood, 15:26.30.
10,000-meter: 1, Will Fallini-Haas, 30:18.71. 2, Colton Swinth, 30:22.76. 3, Aidan Dimick, 30:24.89. 6, Jude DeVries, 30:35.61. 7, Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, 30:39.51.
400-meter hurdles: 5, Joey Souto, 52.29.
3,000-meter steeplechase: 3, Bryce Kueker, 9:01.44. 7, Michael Chambers, 9:18.89.
4x100-meter relay: 2, Cal Poly (Noah Bustos, MacGregor TeSelle, Joey Souto, Ryan Teeple), 40.59.
4x400-meter relay: 3, Cal Poly (Chase Walter, Joey Souto, MacGregor TeSelle, Levi Romero), 3:08.96.
High jump: 4, Nathan Fifer, 6-5. 5, Kevin Schmitt, 6-5. 10, Isaac Knapp, 6-3.25.
Pole vault: 5, Zack Volpe, 15-5.75. 9, Caleb King, 15-0.
Long jump: 8, Noah Bustos, 23-8.
Shot put: 5, Corban Payne, 55-6.25.
Discus: 2, Rory Devaney, 179-7. 7, Travis Martin, 164-11.
Hammer: 2, Travis Martin, 221-3. 3, Rory Devaney, 204-1. 10, Corban Payne, 171-11.
Javelin: 6, Kevin Schmitt, 188-9. 8, Ben Lammers, 184-1. 10, Nick Gammal, 176-9. 11, Chase Walter, 173-2.
Decathlon: 7, Nick Gammal, 5,732 points. 8, Isaac Knapp, 5,599 points.