POMONA, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona women's track and field program kickstarts its 2023-24 indoor season this Saturday at the Spokane Invitational, hosted by Spokane Sports, in Spokane, Wash.

CPP is opening a second straight campaign at the Spokane Invitational. The action gets under way at 9 a.m. with field events. The complete list of Broncos expected to participate is included at the bottom of this season preview. This initial meet is CPP's lone bit of competition for what is left of the 2023 calendar year.

Eighth-year Cal Poly Pomona head coach Chris Bradford has his already-strong 2024 roster buoyed by the return for a sixth academic year of seven-time NCAA Division II indoor All-American and seven-time outdoor All-American Ayana Fields. The star sprinter out of Los Angeles was the runner-up in the 200 meters in a program-record time of 23.36 at indoor Nationals last March 11 in Virginia Beach, Va.

In addition to a too-many-to-list haul of conference, regional and national honors on both the indoor and outdoor tracks, Fields earned a second consecutive Cal Poly Pomona Female Athlete of the Year award at May's Night of Excellence on campus. Her twin brother Ryan, incidentally, also returns as the back-to-back Male Athlete of the Year.

Among those back alongside Fields for the Bronco women and running on the track this Saturday is the junior sprint duo of Kelsey Ehinlaiye and Jaelyn Thomas. Thomas was an indoor All-American in the 4x400 last year and a 2023 outdoor All-American in the two relays, all three with Fields. Ehinlaiye was on the All-American 4x100 as well, while another returner, senior sprinter Ari Milton, was an outdoor All-American on the 4x400 relay.

Two more former indoor All-Americans are still in the fold in junior Arissa Hatcher and senior Yuna Queniat, but they are not on the competitor list for this Saturday in Washington. They were each on the All-American 4x400 relay on March 11 in between leadoff leg Thomas and anchor Fields, the quartet timing 3:45.34 for sixth place. Queniat also was a two-time outdoor All-American in the relays in May.

Senior thrower Keiana Turner is a fifth returner who was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Indoor All-West Region selection a year ago, like Fields (60, 200, 400, 4x400), Ehinlaiye (long jump), Hatcher, Queniat and Thomas (all 4x400).

After Saturday, Cal Poly Pomona will be back in action in the new year with three successive events hosted by the University of New Mexico at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M. Those will be the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 20, the New Mexico Team Open on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27, and the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3.

The Broncos' final regular-season activity will take place in Mankato, Minn., on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9-10, with the Minnesota State Maverick Premier meets at the Myers Field House.

The NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships return to Pittsburg, Kan., for the first time since the 2022 edition, hosted by Pittsburg State University at its Robert W. Plaster Center. This year's dates are Friday and Saturday, March 8-9.

The 2024 campaign will mark just the fourth indoor season for the Bronco women, who only competed outdoors prior to 2020, when the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CPP then did not compete in indoor or outdoor track and field in 2021.

Both the Cal Poly Pomona men and women are the two-time defending California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) champions, and will open the outdoor season together on Thursday, Feb. 22, in nearby Walnut at Mt. SAC's Kamaka Invitational.

Links for more info about Saturday's Spokane Invitational, as well as for following results live, can be found HERE on the schedule page.  

Broncos at 2023 Spokane Invitational - Saturday, Dec. 9
Time (PT)	Event	Round	Student-Athletes
9 a.m.	Weight Throw	Final	Shona Christensen, Keiana Turner
9 a.m.	Long Jump	Final	Amelia Adamson, Kelsey Ehinlaiye, Ari Milton
11:15 a.m.	60 Meter Hurdles	Qualifying	Adamson, Milton, Tianna Jardstrom
11:35 a.m.	60 Meters	Qualifying	Ehinlaiye, Kayesha Alleyne-Adams, Susie Fowler, Jaelyn Thomas
12:30 p.m.	60 Meter Hurdles	Prelim	Adamson, Fowler, Jardstrom, Milton
12:55 p.m.	60 Meters	Prelim	Alleyne-Adams, Ehinlaiye, Fowler, Thomas, Ta'Ahjah Fann, Ayana Fields
1:15 p.m.	60 Meter Hurdles	Final	Adamson, Fowler, Jardstrom, Milton
1:30 p.m.	60 Meters	Final	Alleyne-Adams, Ehinlaiye, Fann, Fields, Fowler, Thomas
1:30 p.m.	Shot Put	Final	Christensen, Turner
1:50 p.m.	Mile	Final	Angela Arellano, Alondra Arias, Vivian Martinez
2:20 p.m.	400 Meters	Final	Alleyne-Adams, Fields, Jardstrom, Milton, Thomas, Assata Polk