After three days and three different meets in Southern California, the Cal Poly track and field team set 14 season bests and eight athletes set new personal records.
Between April 19 and April 21, various members of the team competed at the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, California, the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, and the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, California.
Several seniors were among the athletes recording personal bests. Senior Peter Cotsirilos ran the fastest 1,500m race of his college career, posting a time of 3:17.61, while senior Brad Beekman continued a hot streak clearing 16 feet at the pole vault for his fourth straight meet and senior Maddie McDonald took fourth in the women’s 5,000m with a personal best time of 16:46.45.
While senior Swarnjit Boyal performed well in the invitational elite section of the men’s 5,000m, he fell just short of a personal best by roughly 0.3 seconds.
It wasn’t just the seniors who did well at the meets. The freshmen, sophomores and juniors found success on the track as well.
Junior discus thrower Allison Scranton had the second longest throw at her meet, throwing 163 feet on her third attempt.
“I had a few really good warm-up throws so I was feeling pretty good and then my first two throws weren’t exactly what I was hoping for,” Scranton said. “I was just kind of like, ‘Oh man, on the third one, I need to get a good one so I can make it into finals for sure,’ and that third throw was my best one so far this season.”
To get to the first round of nationals, throwers must be in the top 48. As of the Mustangs’ last meet, Scranton is around 55th. To ensure a spot at nationals, she will have to find a way to slightly improve her mark.
“As we move forward to the next two meets, I’ll really be hoping to throw a mark that will put me top 48 in the west so I can move on,” Scranton said.
Freshman Bikram Thiara continued to improve in the 400m hurdles and took eighth place with a time of 0:52.86. This finish put him in the top 55 for the region.
While the team will miss its high-performing seniors, the younger athletes showed that the team will likely stay competitive next year.
“We have a lot of people returning,” head coach Mark Conover said. “We’re in a great spot.”
With the season winding down, the athletes are prepping for their final meets and trying to post a few more personal bests.
“Everybody is excited about the post-season and what’s coming up,” Conover said. “Just keep training and have everybody work on their goals for finishing up the season at the conference meet and beyond.”