Vanhoy and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo choke when it counts

Vanhoy is not liked by almost all coaches for his behavior. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s not having success at the elite DI level for his coaching too.

Do tell us about all this great talent.

A heads up about Vanboy. The guy has never even run a step in his life. He calls himself a time tcoach, but let me tell you, he doesn't have a clue when it comes to the nitty-gritty of training. All he does is focus on the track during XC, and he is as one-dimensional as they come. In my book, not the best coach around. Hence his results when it matters

If what you say is true this is a great example of how the athlete matters more than the coach. Engels was flying pretty high for a couple of years.

“Flying high” yes

These three negative posters starting this thread are all the same person and obviously the three down votes that the mention of Engels quickly got. From previous threads started by the same guy it is clear he tried to get recruited to Cal Poly and got rejected for not being a team player. All this backstabbing proves that Van Hoy had him pegged perfectly.

I don't know anything about him as a coach but stop making stuff up. I personally watched him place top-10 at the state XC meet and I think top-5 in the 3200 about 20 years ago. He also ran at UNC.

Blatantly false posts should be deleted.

What happened to the 800 meter dude who transferred from Stanford to SLO?

Well, after all . . . Cal Poly is SLO.

McCarthy who is going to nats in the 800 was 1:59/4:19 in HS.

He is now 1:45/3:36/3:52.

I mean at least Van Hoy developed him. SLO traditionally is a decent regional distance powerhouse but not national necessarily. The last 25 years they’ve had a few bright spots nationally but they dominate Big West and put a few points on the regional boards, that’s basically it. Van Hoy fits that mold.

He had it rolling at Ole Miss. If you can do it there, it possible any where.

Hey there, just wanted to share my thoughts on Vanhoy and McCarthy. It seems like it’s correct that McCarthy is the only athlete Vanhoy has qualified for NCAA's. From what I've seen, Vanhoy is a decent mid DI level coach, but after three years, I haven't been too impressed with the progress of the program despite increased funding and support. Just my two cents, not to say Vanhoy is bad, but I don't see anything exceptional either.

They really blew up at regionals this week. While Cal Poly SLO have yet to perform well, the men really seem struggle under pressure.

I'm not a fan of Van Hoy but these constant threads bashing him every few months are stupid. It's ridiculous to think Cal Poly should be routinely qualifying guys for nationals ahead of POWERHOUSES like Washington, Oregon, BYU, NAU, OSU, Iowa State, New Mexico, Stanford, Arkansas, and Wisconsin. Plus Texas A&M in the 800.

Each one of those programs should have at least 3-4 guys in every event faster than Cal Poly. The fact that Cal Poly even qualifies athletes to regionals is impressive, and McCarthy's success is the past couple years heroic.

Vanhoy and his toxic environment have become well-known tales everywhere. It hurts to know that some coaches still send their athletes there for recruitment visits only to experience the same bitter storyline. He shares the same vibe with Sean Carlson, no wonder most coaches can't stand him. The way he badmouths other programs and coaches is sickening. This man clearly has an issue that shouldn't be dismissed easily and quite frankly, shouldn't be coaching at all. Maybe he's grappling with self-doubt and haunted by his running past - I can't say for sure. However, it's a fact that numerous high school coaches here in California aren't impressed one bit by Vanhoy and his antics.

Mentioning Cal Poly SLO to someone outside of SoCal and they're like, "WTF is that!?!" Unless they live in Southern California, no one has a clue what you're talking about.

Did you really expect anyone from this school to compete are a high level ? It’s a mid major DI and that’s not going to change. If a high school kid want to run fast they need to leave California and that the truth

Lol Cal Poly had a great season. They have a ton of top talent and previously underestimated talent developing really well, top marks around middle distance events including even the steeple chase.

From Cal Poly climate to College Station humidity/heat is a struggle. I’ve raced in both. I immaturely considered quitting the sport when I raced in the Summer heat at college station.

Whoever OP is, they’re either a tier one troll or straight up mentally shortened. What were Lewis Westwood’s and Bryce Kueker’s high school PR’s? What are they now?

Cal Poly’s guys had a phenomenal season. Regionals never goes as planned with EVERY team. Vanhoy is crushing with the school’s athletic resources.
This is coming from a guy who grew up locally in slo county, and who actually competed at the D1 level.

I would personally take all the cow dung on poly canyon loop and shove it in your face, coward.