The Big West is proud to announce its 2025 Track & Field major award winners, as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
 
Men’s Awards
Big West men’s team champion Cal Poly took two awards. Aidan McCarthy is the Track Athlete of the Year. It is the Mustang redshirt junior’s second time winning the conference’s top honor after claiming the same accolade in 2023. For the second consecutive year, Ryan Vanhoy is the Coach of the Year. UC Santa Barbara senior Brad Thomas is the Field Athlete of the Year and UC Irvine’s Angel Cordero is the Freshman of the Year.
 
After sitting out the entirety of the 2024 season due to injury, McCarthy returned to the track for Cal Poly and had a stellar year that culminated in a fifth-place finish in the 800m (1:46.88) at the NCAA Championships. It was the half-miler’s second career outdoor All-American honor. McCarthy went double gold at the Big West Championships, winning the 800m (1:46.62) and 1500m (3:39.35) titles, en route to being named the Track Athlete of the Meet. The Mustang redshirt junior’s seasonal-best times in the 800m (1:45.53) and 1500m (3:36.49) are nationally ranked eighth and 13th, respectively.
 
Thomas finished the season as the NCAA runner-up in the decathlon with 7888 points at the national meet. The senior from UC Santa Barbara won the Big West title in the multi-event title with a new conference, meet, school, facility and personal record of 8108 points, a total that was No. 3 mark nationally this season, and claimed Field Athlete of the Meet. During the record-breaking performance, Thomas tossed the javelin 64.42m, a personal-best mark that has a national ranking of 91st. The Gaucho decathlete won the
 
Cordero was the Big West runner-up in the 800m, crossing the finish line in a personal-best time of 1:48.10, which nationally ranks 94th. The Anteaters rookie was also a member of the UCI 4x100m relay team that finished sixth at the conference meet.  
 
Vanhoy led the Mustang men to a second-straight team title at the 2025 Big West Championships. The third-year head coach had 14 regional qualifiers, and sent a trio in McCarthy, Rory Devaney (hammer throw) and Travis Martin (hammer throw) to the national meet, where they earned All-America status.
 
Women’s Awards
Long Beach State claimed two awards on the women’s side with Rahni Turner and Claudine Raud-Gumiel earning the Track Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Year awards, respectively. Freshman of the Year went to Cal State Bakersfield’s Makiah Parker and Coach of the Year to Jeff Perkins of UC Irvine.
 
Turner claimed the 100m hurdles crown at the Big West Championships with a 13.08 personal-best effort, a performance that would have been a meet record if it were not wind-aided (+3.2). It is the 25th-fastest time in the nation. The Beach hurdler was also a member of the 4x100m (44.90) and 4x400m (3:43.53) relay teams that took third and fifth, respectively, at the conference meet.
 
Raud-Gumiel won the heptathlon at the Big West Championships with a school and facility record of 5698 points, tied for 16th nationally. The Beach graduate student-athlete was also second in the 100m hurdles (13.34) behind Turner and fourth in the high jump (1.68m). Raud-Gumiel earned All-America Honorable Mention status in the heptathlon after a 21st-place showing at the NCAA Championships.
 
As a true freshman, Parker won the 200m at the Big West Championships with a time of 23.26, which ranks 95th nationally. The Roadrunner rookie was also the league runner-up in the 100m with a 11.57 performance.  
 
Perkins helmed the UC Irvine women to its first Big West title in program history at the conference meet. The Anteater women had 14 regional qualifiers and one to the national meet in All-American high jumper Zharia Taylor.