PASADENA, Calif. — Caltech Men's Track & Field saw a host of historic performances in 2024, including three school records and four podium finishes at the conference championships highlighted by one individual SCIAC title.

Those four Beavers collected All-SCIAC honors for their conference meet performances, with one of those student-athletes going on to receive All-Region recognition. Head coach Kelli Blake's team ended the season with 16 new program top-10 times or marks on the all-time record boards.

The stupendous campaign kicked off on Jan. 27 as a group made up of primarily throwers took on the OIDFE Challenge Meet in Claremont. The Beavers' most notable result perhaps came out of the shot put competition, where senior Ezra Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Columbus Academy) threw a personal-best 13.69 meters (44 feet, 11 inches) to put himself ninth on the program's all-time top-ten list for the event. It was the first time a member of the Caltech men's track & field team recorded a program top-ten result in shot put in 49 years.

Caltech took on its first full-team effort of the season on Feb. 17 as they competed at the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers Meet.

It was a historic afternoon for junior Rohun Agrawal (Cupertino, Calif. / Monta Vista), who cemented his name in the history books as he took on the men's 3,000-meters. The star posted a lightning performance in the seven-and-a-half-lap race, crossing the line at 8 minutes and 29.88 seconds to destroy the longstanding record of 8:36.54 set in 1974. The distance specialist beat out a number of Div. I athletes to place third overall amongst 69 total runners; he was the first Div. III athlete to cross the line. Juniors Miles Jones (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) and Jonathan Bennett (Englewood, Colo. / Kent Denver) followed Agrawal with quick times of 8:54.74 and 8:58.16, respectively. With the result, Jones moves up to tenth all-time in program history for the distance.

Another notable result for the Beavers came in the field as first-year Tyler Gatewood (Corpus Christi, Texas / W.B. Ray) placed second among ten athletes in just his first collegiate high jump competition. The rookie cleared a height of 1.90m (6' 2.75") to earn runner-up and put himself tied for fifth all-time on the program record board for the event.

The Beavers wrapped up February at the Rossi Relays, where Johnson continued his high-performing season with a personal-best 43.53m (142'10") mark in discus to earn third out of 19 athletes. The result moved the senior up to fourth all-time in program discus history. Junior Jadon Hale (Fort Collins, Colo. / Fossil Ridge) moved up to sixth all-time on the program's men hammer throw leaderboards with a personal-record mark of 41.10m (134' 10") while sophomore David Castillo (Johns Greek, Ga. / Chattahoochee) finished with a PR of 39.65m (130' 1") for the eighth all-time spot.

The Beavers competed in their first and only home meet of the year on Mar. 2 as they hosted four other schools in the first SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet of the season. The men topped Whittier College, 80.00 points to 27.00, behind a plethora of strong finishes.

One of the most impressive performances came out of the men's 1500m, where senior Joey Litvin (Ardmore, Pa. / Lower Merion) broke the tape in a thrilling down-to-the-wire victory. Litvin posted a massive kick to cross the line 3:59.71, narrowly beating out two conference foes (4:00.12, 4:00.60) as well as Agrawal, who crossed the line at 4:00.89 to grab fourth overall but score second place across all of Caltech's head-to-head scoring matchups. It was a personal record for Litvin, who broke 4 minutes for the first time in his career; he now moves up to No. 6 all-time in Caltech 1500m history. Agrawal nearly beat his own record of 4:00.12.

Caltech saw another first-place finish out of junior Cason Shepard (Vancouver, Wash. / Union), who took on the 400m hurdles and finished with a quick time of 58.39 seconds. Castillo just missed out on the victory in the 14-athlete hammer throw competition with a personal record of 39.70m (120' 3") while junior Roy Jiang (Vancouver, B.C. / Southridge School) placed third out of 19 in the 400m with a PR of 51.21 seconds.

Six days later, Agrawal picked up his second school record as he ran a 14:23.33 in the 5,000-meters at the Oxy Distance Carnival. The standout beat the previous record of 14:37.5, recorded by Litvin in 2023. Agrawal's time earned him 10th place overall out of 211 runners across seven heats; he was fifth among Div. III athletes. 

Litvin also posted a commendable time, crossing the line in 14:45.99 to finish 26th. Agrawal and Litvin now sit first and second all-time in Caltech 5,000-meter history.

Sophomore Jacob Wolmer (Tenafly, N.J. / Tenafly) ran a 33:19.13 to secure 11th in the 10K; he finished fifth among athletes not in Div. I or Div. II, and moved up to sixth at the time on the Beaver record boards.

Agrawal nabbed his third program record later in the month as he ran Caltech's fastest-ever 10,000-meters, crossing the line at 30:33.34 at the Mangrum Invite. The star finished runner-up overall, just missing out on the victory by .82 seconds. Like the 5K, Agrawal's time topped the previous record set by Litvin (31:06.83), who in this race helped pace his teammate through the first 6,000 meters.

The team saw several strong performances throughout the first part of April, including a 13.98m (45' 10½") shot put throw from Johnson which skyrocketed him up to No. 6 all-time in Caltech history.

Days later, Agrawal made history yet again as he toppled his own 5K school record, besting his 14:23.33 with a blazing time of 14:12.80. With the time, the Cupertino native moved up to 19th nationally in the distance among all Div. III athletes. The time marked a near-40 second improvement from his fastest 5K in 2023.

Caltech competed in its final SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet on Apr. 13, where the men tied Cal Lutheran University with 25 points. Many of those points came from the men's 400m hurdles, where Caltech went 1-2-3 with junior Josh Saha (Rye, N.Y. / Hackley School) picking up the victory with a time of 55.45 seconds. Shepard finished second (58.21) while Gatewood PR'd for third (58.28). Hale won the hammer throw (38.63m, 126' 9").

From there, the group focused on the most pivotal meet of the season in the SCIAC Championships. It was an excellent day for the program, who beat out Cal Lutheran and Whittier in the final point totals.

It was a historic meet for Gatewood in particular, who took the title in the high jump over the 18 best competitors in the SCIAC. The rookie stunned with a personal-best mark of 1.97m (6' 5.5") in his third and final attempt at the height to claim first place and the title of conference champion. With the result, Gatewood soars to No. 3 all-time in program history for the event. The standout's previous collegiate best entering the championships was 1.90m (6' 2 ¾").

The Beavers saw a massive runner-up showing from junior Daniel Amelinez-Robles (Madison, Wis. / James Madison Memorial), in the men's discus throw with a remarkable personal record of 43.13m (141'6"). Amelinez-Robles picked up PRs in his other two events as well, throwing a 44.18 (144' 11") for fifth in hammer throw and 13.20m (43 3 ¾") for seventh in shot put. Johnson finished right behind Amelinez-Robles in the discus, throwing a 41.95m (137' 7") to earn third place. Johnson placed fourth in shot put (13.69m, 44' 11").

Agrawal placed third in the 10K (30:42.18) while Litvin was seventh (31:28.71). Saha placed sixth in the 400m hurdles finals (55.43) while sophomore Aaban Syed (Laurel, Md. / North County) secured seventh in pole vault (41.0m, 13' 5 ¼").

It was a season-best for any Caltech 4x400m team this season as Jiang, Saha, Gatewood and Shepard ran 3:27.08. The 4x100m team of rookies Miigwan Tanner-Wostrel (Cloquet, Minn. / Cloquet), Bisrat Kassahun (Merritt Island, Fla. / Edgewood Jr/Sr), Marcel Liu (Natick, Mass. / Phillips Academy) and Jiang also ran the fastest time of any Caltech team this year (46.25).

For their top-3 finishes, Gatewood, Amelinez-Robles, Johnson and Agrawal collected All-SCIAC honors; Litvin was awarded the Dixon Farmer Award for exemplifying "ability, leadership, determination, sportsmanship and sincerity of academic pursuit."

Several Beavers went on to post stellar times and marks at late-season meets in April, including Litvin, who moved from No. 6 to No. 3 all-time in school 1500m history with a 3:57.75 performance. Jones PR'd by nearly 14 seconds to move up to No. 5 in Caltech 5K history with a result of 14:55.45. Amelinez-Robles saved some of his best throwing for the end of the season as he moved up to no. 3 all-time in men's hammer throw (44.55m, 146' 2") at the Franson Last Chance Meet.

The season ended with Agrawal receiving USTFCCCA All-Region distinction for posting a 5,000-meter time which put him in the top-five among in the Div. III West Region. The star won Co-Athlete of the Year at Caltech Athletics' Student-Athlete Celebration in May.

The program graduates six seniors but will return many returners with a plethora of talented newcomers. Stay tuned for a schedule release later this summer.

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