The Cal Poly track and field team is climbing up the Big West Conference list with new personal records and overall solid performances.
The team anticipates the conference in Irvine for outdoor performances, which will take place on May 11 and 12, head coach Mark Conover said. The Mustangs will compete against Long Beach, Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Riverside and UC Davis.
“We’re just working hard to put up our best results,” Conover said.
Last weekend, senior pole vaulter Kyle Inks cleared 17-feet-6.5-inches, one of the all-time top marks at Cal Poly. Inks will lead the conference in pole vaulting, Conover said.
Sophomore Jamison Jordan currently leads the men’s 100-meter run, and junior David Cardona leads the 1,500 and 5,000-meters. Sophomore Chris Frias is second in the 10,000-meter, and senior Daniel Erdman is second in discus throw and shot put.
“We have a lot of solid running going on with our middle distance runners,” Conover said. “Our sprinters are really coming along nicely along with our 400-meter runners. They’ve set a personal best.”
Eric Suprenant, senior team captain and men’s hurdler, set a 400-meter hurdle mark of 52.07 seconds, making it to the top three in the conference. Junior Paul Brown also set a personal best with 49.40 seconds in the 400-meter.
“Everyone’s really developing well and coming along nicely,” Conover said. “There’s a lot of standing tradition of great student athletes in track and field at Cal Poly. To crack into our top 10 list, you’re doing great.”
On the women’s side, senior Vanessa Hancock leads the conference in the 1,500-meter run, and senior Leanne Fogg leads in the 3,000-meter. They are the two defending conference champions, Conover said.
The women’s team also has solid marks by senior team captain Alex Ciaraglia in the 5,000 meter, breaking 17 minutes over the weekend, and sophomore Siera Hearne, going over 13 feet in the pole vault this year. In addition, Conover said sophomore Shereese Cutler and senior Shereese Cutler have made great progress in the jumping categories.
Several men and women athletes on the team, including Sisler, Suprenant and Jordan, are NCAA qualifiers as well, Conover said.
This weekend, the team will have a meet against Rafer Johnson at the JJK Invitational in Los Angeles. The team will then attend Mt. SAC Relays, an annual track and field festival in Walnut, Calif., followed by a home meet against UC Santa Barbara on April 28.
Next, some team members will compete in the Big West Multi Event Championship in Irvine, where decathletes and heptathletes will score points to carry over to the overall team score in the Big West Conference.
Surprenant predicts a successful performance at the conference meet.
“Everyone has their individual good days and bad days,” he said. “But at conference, everyone brings it all and comes together as a whole.
Surprenant said his goal as team captain is to make the finals and get as many individuals to regionals as possible. He said the team has the potential to bring 15 to 20 people to Austin, Texas, for regionals.
His personal goal is to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, where the top 12 athletes from regionals will compete.
Ciaraglia shares Suprenant’s positive predictions.
“As long as everyone shows up ready to go and we have all our pistons firing at the right time, we’ll do really well,” she said.
The only disadvantage she can think of is the team’s recent injuries.
“We have had some injuries this year that we’re recovering from in a couple different events,” she said. “That might hurt us a little bit, but I think we have enough depth to put on a good show.”
Despite there being approximately 100 athletes on the team, Ciaraglia said its camaraderie has improved tremendously this year.
The team got to know each other well through frequent pasta dinners before home meets, hanging out outside of practice and sitting together on the bus ride to meets, she said.
“It’s really cool to see each event group come together as a whole and be able to support each other,” Ciaraglia said. “Everyone knows everyone by name for the most part.”