By Megan Sanders, March 10, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s and women’s track and field teams displayed personal bests and top 10 performances at the Rossi Relays Feb. 28, resulting in a men’s first and women’s second place team finish.
Out of 19 teams with 105.25 points and dominated in the field events with seniors Gavin Hanes and Jered Beasly along with redshirt junior Ian Strode tying for first place in pole vault after clearing 4.85 meters.
This was the official start to the outdoor track and field season for many of the Broncos.
According to Strode, it’s great to be back competing after taking a year off to study abroad in South Korea, and his only goal for this meet was to have fun but has high hopes for the rest of the season.
“I expect at least four men vaulters to be headed to nationals this season,” Strode said. “I think that’s the main thing. I see me, Jaeden, Jered and Gavin all headed to nationals.”
CPP graduate student Darius Hill and freshman Harry Chen also tied for first place on the men’s side after jumping 2.09 meters in the high jump, earning NCAA Division II provisional marks. Chen also earned himself a spot in the CPP top 10 performances in school history
Redshirt sophomore Collin Joyce earned second place in the long jump with a 7.02-meter jump, just short of his personal best of 7.08 meters.
In the throwing events, CPP senior Cory Gamero came in second place in discus with a 48.03-meter throw and senior John Dvorak placed fifth in javelin after throwing 53.13 meters.
Continuing the success he had during his cross-country season, graduate student Ricardo Vargas led the CPP men’s distance in the 3,000-meter, clocking in at 8:13.44 and earning a sixth-place finish.
According to head coach Chris Bradford, many athletes did not compete in this meet, including several seasoned runners recently coming off their indoor season.
“I think we’re going to add a lot of human faces throughout the year, and they’ve had success throughout their high school or junior college careers,” Bradford said. “We’ve got some kids who can really impact the team, which is awesome.”
The CPP women’s team also had several top 10 performances in school history, earning them a second-place overall finish with 73.5 points out of 19 teams.
The top performance of the meet was the women’s sprint medley relay team comprised of CPP freshmen Naomi Shillingford and Lotta Metsarinta along with seniors Jessica James and Jordan Garcia who broke the school record with a time of 1:45.26 and earned second place in the competition.
The Broncos’ second SMR squad, consisting of graduate students Kelsey Ehinlaiye and Arissa Hatcher, senior Yasmeen Delgado and sophomore Chanel Burton placed fifth with a time of 1:48.87, earning them a spot on the top 10 performance list at CPP.
According to Shillingford, the SMR team was put together last minute just a couple days before the meet but came together smoothly.
“I wasn’t really surprised (of the results) because all of the girls on the team are very good,” Shillingford said. “I’m glad it came together and just really happy and proud of all the people on the team.”
The Bronco’s 4×400 meter relay team with Delgado, Garcia, Hatcher and James finished the race with a first-place finish and a time of 3:47.58, also making it into the top 10 in program history.
According to Bradford, the coaching staff is planning on rotating runners in and out of the relay teams as the season progresses.
CPP standout Neshara Smith, who already broke three school records in the indoor track season, battled hard for third place in the long jump with a 5.63-meter jump and a fourth-place finish in the 100 meters with a time of 12.15 seconds.
Broncos junior Halle McDaniels earned her spot in the history books for the hammer throw and third in the meet with a 48.45-meter mark. She also had a ninth-place finish in the shot put with an 11.60-meter throw.
Senior Bailie Horton also etched her way into the history books in pole vault after clearing a new personal record of 3.50 meters, earning her fifth place.
The Broncos competed again in the Beach Opener March 6-7 and will compete at the Ben Brown Invitational March 13-14.
Feature image courtesy of the CPP Athletics
