The only Olympic gold medalist in Cal Poly history returns to her alma mater for the first time since winning the women’s discus in Beijing last summer to compete in the Cal Poly Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
But she isn’t the only Olympian to have donned the green and gold. Former Cal Poly high jumper Sharon Day will also participate. Day competed in the high jump in Beijing.
Among the teams competing in the invitational are Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara and nearby Cuesta College. The Bulldogs are familiar with the field having been defeated by Cal Poly in a dual earlier this year.
“Fresno went home a couple weeks ago with dejected feelings so we expect them to come out here and turn it up another notch,” track and field director Terry Crawford said.
The timing of the event is of significance to Crawford as it is the final home event of the season for Cal Poly, which still has several key road events remaining in the season before beginning the conference championships.
We consider the end of April and May the championship season,” Crawford explained. “In early May we have a huge dual meet with Santa Barbara and it just happens that it’s our turn to go down there. To be competing at home at the beginning of our season leaves us a little bit frustrated in terms that we can’t put on some of our best marks as we go into the end of the season.”
While Crawford would like to have a later home event, she said she was happy with the outlook for the weekend and said that she would have several options for different players.
“The nice thing about this weekend is we’re going to have the flexibility to put some people in different events and try some different things,” she said. “We’re just coming off spring break and we’re happy to open our spring quarter with a home meet and another chance to test ourselves against our Central Coast rivals.”