Cal Poly Mustangs


The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty-one teams and compete in NCAA Division I; they are primarily members of the Big West Conference, but the football team plays in the Big Sky Conference, the wrestling team is an associate member of the Pac-12 Conference, and the swimming and diving program competes as an affiliate member in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Nickname

The Cal Poly official team nickname is the "Mustangs." The nickname was chosen in a 1925 vote by the students. The two finalists were "Mustangs" and "Mules" and the students chose "Mustangs."

History

Cal Poly athletic history

Early athletic program history

The Cal Poly Mustangs athletic department's first sports team was fielded in 1907 as the men's basketball team played their first game. The university was not yet a four-year institution, but the school sponsored sports.

1960 Cal Poly football team airline crash

Student Referendum and Move to NCAA Division I Level

put a referendum vote to its student body on Nov. 20-21, 1991. The referendum passed, with students voting to elevate all 16 NCAA sports teams at the time from Division II of the NCAA to Division I by the 1994-95 school year, passed by 267 votes in the largest voter turnout in school history, featuring 10,369 total votes cast, with 5,318 passing the measure. This move would be accommodated by the student body individually paying a total of $35 more per quarter by 1994.
Afterward, the NCAA officially certified Cal Poly as a Division I-AA football school on Aug. 9, 1993. Its first year of playing at the Division I level in all sports was 1994-95.

Conference alignment

Announced Oct. 14, 1994, Cal Poly joined the Big West Conference for a majority of its sports programs, from the American West Conference. The 1996-97 school year then marked Cal Poly's first season competing in the Big West.
Cal Poly was accepted into the Big Sky Conference as an affiliate member for football on September 7, 2010. The Mustangs' first-ever Big Sky game was played on September 22, 2012, a 28-20 home win over UC Davis.

Adidas partnership

On May 25, 2017, Cal Poly announced a five-year exclusive partnership with adidas. The partnership beginning in June 2017 would provide official footwear, apparel and various equipment items through the 2021-22 year.

Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition awards

In May 2019, Cal Poly received seven Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA for Academic Progress Rate performance for the 2017-18 academic year. The seven awards included six from Big West Conference teams in the department, the most throughout the Big West.

Philanthropic endeavors

From 2007 through 2018, the Cal Poly softball program has raised over $19,600 for the Hearst Cancer Resource Center with its annual StrikeOut Cancer Challenge event.
From 2012 to 2019, Cal Poly student-athletes raised $11,179 through the Big West Conference's annual February Coin Drive, with previous causes also including the Jessie Rees Foundation and CURE International. In 2019, Cal Poly student-athletes raised more than $3,300 for Hearst Cancer Resource Center at nearby French Hospital as part of the 12th annual February Coin Drive. The total was the most Cal Poly has raised in a single year and ranked second among the conference's nine universities for 2019.
Starting in December 2015, Cal Poly student-athletes have been actively involved with the Salvation Army's Adopt-an-Angel program, purchasing toys, clothing and gift cards while collecting donations to benefit local families in the San Luis Obispo area. In 2017, Mustang student-athletes adopted 50 children from 24 families, an increase of three sponsored children from the 2016 season. The December 2018 drive saw Cal Poly student-athletes adopt 32 children for the program.

Controversies

NCAA infractions

In 1987 while competing as an NCAA Division II school, the National Collegiate Athletic Association found the athletic department guilty of infractions relating to the men's basketball program. During the course of the investigation, then head coach Ernie Wheeler resigned from his position and was later publicly reprimanded.
As the department was transitioning from Division I to NCAA Division I in 1994, the department self-reported violations related to the baseball program. Cal Poly identified head coach Steve McFarland as having given improper financial aid to both players and members of his coaching staff. In 1995, the NCAA accepted Cal Poly's self-imposed penalties which included forfeiture of their NCAA Division II baseball championship and other top finishes and a postseason ban.
In April 2019, the athletic department was placed on probation for multiple years and was forced to vacate regular season championships and conference tournament records by the NCAA. The NCAA reported years worth of infractions involving 265 athletes across 18 sports. Additionally, the school must now inform all recruits about the department's infractions prior to official visits. In deciding on the severity of punishment, the NCAA noted Cal Poly's two earlier infractions from 1987 and 1995. The athletic department appealed, but the decision was upheld in February 2020.

Other athletic department controversies

In November 2013, a student assistant coach who previously played for the Cal Poly Mustangs football team was shot in a drug deal. The following year in August 2014, further problems beset the football team when 5 current Cal Poly student-athletes were arrested and charged with a total of 23 felonies which made national headlines. The players were subsequently suspended indefinitely from the team.
California Polytechnic State University president, Jeffrey Armstrong, stated that the August 2014 event "bears striking commonalities" with the November 2013 event, which was also noted by San Luis Obispo Police Department Chief Steve Gesell as having "disturbing" similarities. Armstrong, with athletic director, Don Oberhelman, launched an investigation into the football team's potential further involvement with illegal drugs and criminal activity and rolled out a new drug policy for the athletics department. It was reported by The Tribune that cost was a factor cited by Cal Poly when testing just 41 of its 540 student-athletes for banned substances within the last year. Oberhelman later stated that some of the players involved "... should not have been at Cal Poly." He also stated that he had heard of illegal drug usage among members of the football team. According to current and former players who spoke with The Tribune confidentially, the consensus was that illegal drug usage at the football program was widespread, with estimates ranging between 40% to 60% of the student-athletes. Athletic director Oberhelman kept faith in head coach Tim Walsh and his coaching staff despite Randy Hanson, a former coach brought on by Walsh, had multiple felony charges brought upon him just a few years earlier. One of the student-athletes' lawyers in the August 2014 event later accused head coach Tim Walsh in court of coercion to talk to the police without a lawyer present.
In 2014, Cal Poly went to court to cover up or remove mentions of Moriarty Enterprises from the scoreboard at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. Al Moriarty, a former Cal Poly football player who was inducted to the Cal Poly Hall of Fame in 2002, purchased naming rights to the scoreboard in 2009 for a total of $625,000. He was convicted of running a ponzi scheme and Cal Poly argued that they were "...suffering harm by having the name 'Moriarty Enterprises' remain on the scoreboard." When bankruptcy trustees asked Cal Poly for the money to be returned to benefit Moriarty's creditors, Cal Poly declined. After nearly a year in court, an agreement was reached wherein Cal Poly repaid $480,000 of the original donation to remove mentions of Moriarty, leaving the school with a $145,000 profit from the original sponsorship.
In April 2015, a football student-athlete was arrested for driving under the influence, a felony, after crashing his car. A number of the passengers in the car were also football student-athletes. Previously in March 2011, a different Cal Poly football player was arrested for a DUI and ultimately chose to transfer out of the program.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

The Cal Poly Mustangs baseball team first fielded a team in 1948.

Men's basketball

The Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team's first season was 1907 and its first season as a four-year institution was the 1941–42 season. The team had its most successful year in 2014, when the team won the Big West Tournament, clinching its first NCAA basketball tournament bid in school history.

Women's basketball

The Cal Poly Mustangs women's basketball team's first season was the 1974–75 season.

Women's Beach volleyball

, an intercollegiate women's beach volleyball program, was founded in July 2013. It became the university's 21st NCAA sport. In February 2016, Cal Poly hired Todd Rogers, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the sport, as its new head coach.
The Mustangs had their most successful season in the spring of 2019, winning the Big West Conference Championship over Hawai'i, 3-2 in Malibu, California. Following the title, Cal Poly advanced to the eight-team NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, losing to Florida State in the opening match before dropping a rematch against Hawai'i on ESPN.

Cross country

In 2012, coach Mark Conover and his men's squad collected its second straight Big West Conference title and 12th in the past 15 seasons. Their last national placing was in 2011, when they finished 28th at the National Cross Country Championships. Also in 2012, the women's program nabbed its first Big West Conference crown since 2001.
The Cal Poly Mustangs men's cross country team appeared in the NCAA Division I Championships seven times, with their highest finish being 10th place in the 2004–05 school year. The Cal Poly Mustangs women's cross country team never made the NCAA Division I Championships as a full team.
In the fall of 2018, Cal Poly swept both team titles at the Big West Conference Championships, and went on to advance both Miranda Daschian and Katie Izzo as individuals to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. Peyton Bilo was the program's most recent All-American, taking 23rd place at the 2016 national championships as a sophomore.

Team USA members

alumnus Phillip Reid represented Team USA at the Great Edinburgh International Run in Scotland in 2012-13 and at the North America/Central America/Caribbean Championships in Jamaica in 2013.
1999MenNo. 29607
2003MenNo. 13401
2004MenNo. 10333
2006MenNo. 13441
2007MenNo. 11367
2008MenNo. 23513
2011MenNo. 28680

Football

Mustang Football plays in the Big Sky Conference, competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Prior to joining the Big Sky Conference in 2012, the team competed in the Great West Conference and is the first Great West Football Conference participant in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Each year Cal Poly plays rival UC Davis in the annual Battle for the Golden Horseshoe.
The Cal Poly Mustangs men's football team have an NCAA Division I FCS Tournament record of 1–4 through four appearances.
2005First Round
Quarterfinals		Montana
Texas State		W 35–21
L 7–14
2008First RoundWeber StateL 35–49
2012Second RoundSam Houston StateL 16–18
2016First RoundSan DiegoL 21–35

Women's Golf

won the 2017 Big West Conference championship at Oak Quarry Golf Club in Riverside, California, besting the field with a combined total of 887 strokes. After winning the title, the Mustangs advanced to their first Division I NCAA Regional Tournament, finishing 16th in Albuquerque, New Mexico at UNM South Championship Golf Course.
The Mustangs are coached by former LPGA pro Sofie Andersson.

Men's soccer

The Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer team has had success in recent years. In 2008, Coach Paul Holocher led his team to a 3rd place in the Big West and a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament. They went on to beat UCLA and ended up losing to UC Irvine in the 2nd round.
Cal Poly soccer has a strong fan base, averaging over 3,000 fans per match in 2010. In 2011, collegesoccernews.com chose Cal Poly vs. UC Santa Barbara as the No. 1 rivalry in college soccer. Since 2007, the rivalry matches have regularly drawn upwards of 8,000 fans to watch the matches.
The Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1–3 through three appearances and have never advanced past the second round.
1995First RoundUCLAL 1–2
2008First Round
Second Round		UCLA
UC Irvine		W 1–0
L 0–3
2015First RoundUCLAL 0–2

Women's soccer

Cal Poly's women's soccer program is coached by Alex Crozier, formerly an assistant coach at Santa Clara under Jerry Smith. Entering the 2018 season, Crozier held a won-loss-draw career record of 281-178-53 in 26 previous seasons, ranking No. 32 in NCAA history for career head coaching wins among active coaches.
The Mustangs have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 1-5 through five appearances, with the win coming over Fresno State in the first round in 1999, 2-1 in Fresno. Cal Poly fell 3-1 at Stanford in the second round.

Pro alumni

became the first Cal Poly women's soccer alumna to play professionally in 2000-02, in the WUSA, after being drafted by the San Diego Spirit with the 35th overall selection of the 2000 draft. Oceguera played the 2001 season for the Bay Area CyberRays, helping to lead the club to the championship.
From 2016-17, former Cal Poly goalkeeper Alyssa Giannetti played for Arna-Bjornar in the Toppserien in Bergen, Norway. She signed with the club in February 2016. Giannetti was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year following her rookie season.
Elise Krieghoff, a teammate of Giannetti with the Mustangs from 2012–15, signed a contract with the Boston Breakers of the NWSL in April 2016.

Division I All-Americans

Brooke Flamson was selected as Cal Poly's first Division I All-American by the United Soccer Coaches Association in 2002. Flamson was a third-team All-American her senior year.
Following the 2015 season, Elise Krieghoff was selected as a Senior Class First Team All-American, an honor specific to seniors.
1999First Round
Second Round		Fresno State
Stanford		W 2–1
L 1–3
2000First RoundSanta ClaraL 1–3
2002First RoundStanfordL 0–4
2003First RoundArizona StateL 1–3
2004First RoundStanfordL 0–2

Softball

Pro draft choices

International record-holders

alum Jimmy Deiparine went on to set the Filipino national record in the 100-meter breaststroke: 1:02.08 in 2016. In 2017, Deiparine won the silver medal for the 100m breast at the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur. Also in 2017, Deiparine swam at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, breaking his own 50m breast Philippine national record, taking 36th place out of 81 swimmers, via 28.13 seconds.

Men's Tennis

Pro alumni

Andre Dome won the Thailand F2 Futures title in May 2015, ending Akira Santillan of Japan's 11-match winning streak 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. Dome's highest ATP singles ranking came at No. 426 in the world, ultimately retiring with an overall ITF career mark of 41-29 on the pro circuit, including three titles altogether.

Track and Field

All-Americans

Combined, all-time in its history, including individual national champions, Cal Poly has produced 522 total All-Americans specific to track & field. 72 of these All-America honors have been awarded in Division I, and 450 All-America honors were earned in Division II.

Olympians

The women's indoor volleyball team has been one of the school's best sports programs in recent years and in the 1980s when the team reached #1 in the nation in 1985 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. In 2007 the team captured its second straight Big West title by posting a 15-1 conference record and a 23-8 record overall, and made it to the third round of the playoffs before losing to Stanford in the Sweet 16. The team also went 23-6 in 2006.
Cal Poly returned to the AVCA national rankings and NCAA Tournament in both 2017 & 2018 upon winning back-to-back Big West Conference championships.
The team has an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 14-16 through sixteen total appearances.

Team USA members

1981Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals		Northwestern
Pacific		W 3–0
L 1–3
1982First Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals		Pittsburgh
Arizona State
Hawaii		W 3–0
W 3–1
L 1–3
1983First Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals		San Jose State
UC Santa Barbara
Pacific		W 3–1
W 3–2
L 0–3
1984Regional SemifinalsFresno StateL 2–3
1985First Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals		UC Santa Barbara
San Jose State
Pacific		W 3–2
W 3–0
L 0–3
1986First RoundSan Jose StateL 1–3
1987First Round
Regional Semifinals		UC Santa Barbara
Hawaii		W 3–1
L 0–3
1988First RoundHawaiiL 0–3
1989First Round
Regional Semifinals		UC Santa Barbara
Hawaii		W 3–2
L 2–3
1999First RoundMichigan StateL 1–3
2000First Round
Second Round		South Florida
USC		W 3–1
L 0–3
2002First RoundPepperdineL 0–3
2006First RoundMichigan
California		W 3–1
L 1–3
2007First Round
Second Round
Regional Semifinals		Xavier
Purdue
Stanford		W 3–0
W 3–0
L 0–3
2017First Round
Second Round		Denver
UCLA		W 3–0
L 1–3
2018First RoundSan DiegoL 1–3

Wrestling

The wrestling program at Cal Poly competes as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, which is traditionally one of the strongest conferences in college wrestling. Cal Poly has had two wrestlers win the Division I NCAA Wrestling Championship and 46 wrestlers earn All-American honors at the Division I level. In addition to the program's success at the NCAA Championships the program has crowned one champion at the National Collegiate Open Wrestling Championship. On Jan. 30, 2014, Cal Poly hosted Oregon State in a very rare outdoor wrestling match. The match took place in Cal Poly's University Union Plaza following the weekly UU hour. The only other known outdoor matches have been hosted by The Citadel Bulldogs, including one during the 2012-13 season. Arizona State also wrestled Arizona outdoors in the 1970s.
The team competes in Mott Athletics Center on campus opened back in 1960, seating over 3,000 people for home dual meets and tournaments.
Two former Mustang wrestlers after graduation went on to compete in mixed martial arts, more specifically the Ultimate Fighting Championships. The first is Chad Mendes who was a national runner-up at 141 lbs. in 2008, currently competing for the UFC since 2011. The other wrestling alum is Chuck Liddell, who graduated in 1995 and is now a retired UFC Hall of Fame inductee being a former UFC Light heavyweight champion.
Prior to joining the Division I ranks via the Pac-12 in 1987, Cal Poly was dominant in the College Division/Division II, winning the 1966 national championship and seven consecutive NCAA titles from 1968-74.
The Cal Poly Mustangs men's wrestling team has appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament forty-five times, with their highest finish being fifth place in the 1968-69 school year.
1958MenNo. 235
1968MenNo. 628
1969MenNo. 552
1972MenNo. 2113
1975MenNo. 836
1976MenNo. 653
1977MenNo. 2212
1978MenNo. 932
1979MenNo. 1516
1980MenNo. 1221
1981MenNo. 442
1982MenNo. 2410
1983MenNo. 928
1984MenNo. 2214
1985MenNo. 1130
1986MenNo. 456
1988MenNo. 2412
1989MenNo. 444
1990MenNo. 493
1991MenNo. 582
1992MenNo. 542
1993MenNo. 368
1994MenNo. 2716
1995MenNo. 365
1996MenNo. 414
1997MenNo. 3310
1998MenNo. 2813
1998MenNo. 444
2000MenNo. 553
2001MenNo. 602
2002MenNo. 2917
2003MenNo. 31
2004MenNo. 1631
2005MenNo. 2522
2006MenNo. 2332
2007MenNo. 2723
2008MenNo. 2618
2009MenNo. 439
2010MenNo. 1830
2011MenNo. 3217
2012MenNo. 2523
2014MenNo. 641
2015MenNo. 581
2017MenNo. 62
2018MenNo. 62

Championships

Appearances

The Cal Poly Mustangs competed in the NCAA Tournament across 18 active sports 141 times at the Division I FCS level.
NCAA Tournament Appearances
Baseball : 2009 • 2013 • 2014
Beach volleyball : 2019
Men's basketball : 2014
Women's basketball : 2013
Men's cross country : 1999 • 2003 • 2004 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2011
Football : 2005 • 2008 • 2012 • 2016
Men's soccer : 1995 • 2008 • 2015
Women's soccer : 1999 • 2000 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004
Softball : 2007 • 2009
Men's swimming and diving : 1958 • 1959 • 2014
Men's tennis : 2011 • 2012 • 2014
Women's tennis : 2003 • 2011
Men's indoor track and field : 1971 • 1973
Women's indoor track and field : 1983 • 1999 • 2000 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2008
Men's outdoor track and field : 1960 • 1961 • 1964 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2004 • 2005 • 2007
Women's outdoor track and field : 1995 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2011
Women's volleyball : 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1999 • 2000 • 2002 • 2006 • 2007 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019
Wrestling : 1958 • 1968 • 1969 • 1972 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2014 • 2015 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019

Team

Cal Poly has never won a team national championship at the NCAA Division I level.
Cal Poly won 35 national championships at the NCAA Division II level.
Below is one national championship that was not bestowed by the NCAA:
Below are six national club team championships:
Cal Poly had 12 Mustangs win NCAA individual championships at the Division I level.
At the NCAA Division II level, Cal Poly garnered 120 individual championships.

Athletic facilities

The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe

Cal Poly's football rivalry with UC Davis, a fellow member of the Big Sky Conference, is played for the Golden Horseshoe.

The Blue-Green rivalry

The main rival of the Cal Poly Mustangs are the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos who compete together in the Blue–Green Rivalry. The Blue-Green Rivalry, which started in November 1921 with a football game, was formalized in 2009. This new format calculates earned points between Cal Poly and UCSB to determine a winner based on their teams' competitive results against each other. Additionally, collegesoccernews.com ranked UC Santa Barbara vs. Cal Poly as the Greatest Rivalry in College Soccer.

Notable Athletics Alumni

Cal Poly's ESPN Radio affiliate is ESPN 1280 AM The Ticket, based in San Luis Obispo. Prior to the 2018-19 school year, the station added 101.7 FM carrying Mustangs broadcasts, with greater reach throughout San Luis Obispo County.