Cal Poly Pomona Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brian Swanson announced Thursday that CPP will add the sport of women’s indoor track and field for the 2019-20 academic year, increasing the number of teams in the department to 11. The program will begin competition in December 2019 with the focus on qualifying for the 2020 NCAA Division II Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 13-14 in Birmingham, Alabama.
“As we regularly evaluate our NCAA sport opportunities, the growth of our women’s cross country and women’s outdoor track & field program have allowed us to add women’s indoor track & field as our eleventh sport,” Swanson said. “We appreciate Coach Bradford’s and our assistant coaches willingness to add these additional opportunities for our female student-athletes. I look forward to our continued success in the classroom and in competition while proudly representing Cal Poly Pomona and Bronco Athletics.”
Chris Bradford, currently the head coach for both cross country and outdoor track & field at CPP, will assume the same duties for the women’s indoor track and field squad, with assistance from his current assistant coaches Wes Ashford, Darrell Smith Jr., Sara Macey and Joseph Blue. The addition of the women’s indoor track and field program will increase opportunities for current and future women student-athletes as more than 30 could be added to the roster, many of which could also compete in outdoor track and field.
” Our student-athletes and coaching staff are so thankful for this opportunity to compete and represent the Broncos during the indoor track and field season,” Bradford said. “Anytime you can increase the opportunities to compete, it is a great thing. To be able to compete for All-American honors and National Championships during the indoor season will give Cal Poly Pomona a chance to showcase the amazing women that are part of our Track and Field program. We can’t wait to get this started next season.”
Four other CCAA institutions currently sponsor the sport of women’s indoor track and field – Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State L.A., San Francisco State and Stanislaus State. Ten institutions from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) and three from the Pacific West Conference also compete in the NCAA-sponsored sport for a total of 18 in the West Region.