OFFICIAL CCAA RELEASE | VIDEO

CALIFORNIA -- The Cal Poly Pomona men's track and field team is expected to place second in the 2020 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships, according to a preseason vote of the league's coaches, it was announced by the conference office Tuesday.

After placing second in last year's conference championships, the highest finish since 2013, the Broncos return three of the four qualifiers from last year's NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including junior Kaelin Moore, sophomore Ryan Fields and senior All-American Kyle Lawson.  CPP will also have seven USTFCCCA All-West Region selections returning to the squad in 2020, including Moore, Fields and Lawson.  Alejandro Ambrosio, Ben Anderson, Nicholas Guajardo, and Aaron Guerra-Garcia are the other four.

Chico State's men's track & field team has been picked to do what they've done the last four years - win the conference title. The Wildcats earned the top spot in the 2020 CCAA Men's Track & Field Preseason Coaches Poll, as voted on by all nine head coaches.

The three-way battle for the top of the podium has Chico State earning 67 points and seven first-place votes, followed by Cal Poly Pomona's 55 points and the remaining two first-place nods. UC San Diego is hot on the Broncos' trail, just one point back with 54.
 
The Wildcats will be looking for their 17th CCAA title in the last 18 years, the only blemish during that span coming in 2015 when UC San Diego took top honors, and last season Chico State earned the title with an 80-point difference over Cal Poly Pomona. Chico State lost All Americans in CCAA Track & Field Athlete of the Year Tyler Arroyo and distance runner Eddie King, but the squad always finds a way to reload under the tutelage of head coach Oliver Hanf.

2019 CCAA champion pole vaulter Lance Huber, a junior from Loomis, along with runner-up and Watsonville senior Zehr Juech Blanco are both returning for the Wildcats. Trad Berti, who redshirted during the track & field season a year ago, finished second in the CCAA and second in the West Region during the 2019 cross country season, only trailing Cal State San Marcos senior Joshua Litwiller on both occasions. He should be a force to watch in the distance races, and the Wildcats are coming off a third-place podium finish at the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. 

With 54 points, UC San Diego is third in the preseason poll, and will see two 2019 CCAA champions on the track in sophomore Max Halvax (400 meters) and junior Jake Selstad (800 meters). Last year, the Tritons finished in third as the meet hosts. UC San Diego will be without the services of two All-Americans who matriculated after the season in back-to-back CCAA triple jump champion Matt Bowen and 110 meter hurdler and All-American Nicholas Rack.

Fourth place in the poll belongs to the hosts of the 2020 CCAA Track & Field Championships, Stanislaus State. The Warriors tallied 38 points and return four men who won five CCAA titles in 2019, including All-American in the hammer throw and three-time conference champion, Eric Bejaran. Fellow thrower Matthew Gallego is back to defend his league title in the discus, as well. On the track, 1,500 meter competitor, Andrew Vazquez, a junior from Delhi, and sprinter Terrence Gladney will be back in the lanes. Gladney, a senior from Sacramento, took 2019 conference titles in both the 100 and 200 meters. Another man to look out for in the distances will be CCAA cross country Freshman of the Year Joseph Macareno, who raced to an All-American selection on the course this fall.

Next is Cal State San Marcos (35 points) and distance man Litwiller, with sophomore high jumper and All-American Porte-Joie Tshiaba headlining the efforts for Cal State LA (33). Humboldt State (23), Cal State East Bay (16) and San Francisco State (8) round out the preseason picks. 

Many teams are slowly opening the outdoor slate during the month of February, with a pair competing last weekend at the Mangrum Preview hosted by Cal State San Marcos, and an intersquad and alumni competition at Humboldt State. This weekend, UC San Diego heads to the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers meet with six taking the track in Southern California Feb. 21-22 in the FPU Sunbird Invite and Rossi Relays. 

The 2020 CCAA Track & Field Championships take place April 30-May 2 at Al Brenda Track at Warrior Stadium in Turlock, returning to Stanislaus State for the fourth time, after also hosting in 2011, '13 and '18 . The 2020 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set to return to Kingsville Texas. Competitors will toe the line at Javelina Stadium May 21-23.

 

2020 CCAA Men's Track & Field Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank	Institution	Points (First-place votes)
1.	Chico State	62 (7)
2.	Cal Poly Pomona	55 (2)
3.	UC San Diego	54
4.	Stanislaus State	38
5.	Cal State San Marcos	35
6.	Cal State LA	33
7.	Humboldt State	23
8.	Cal State East Bay	16
9.	San Francisco State	8