Two Orfalea College of Business Students Win Top Cal Poly Athletics Awards

Two business students were presented with top Cal Poly athletic awards this summer.

Track athlete Davis Bove was Male Athlete of the year while volleyball player Kate Slack was named top Female Scholar-Athlete.

Bove finished his master’s degree in business analytics in June while Slack earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing. Slack, who will pursue a master’s in business analytics, has one more year of eligibility.

Here’s a rundown on both athletes, from Cal Poly Athletics:

Davis Bove

Bove made quite the splash this year for the Cal Poly track & field and cross country programs, powering the Mustang men to Big West team titles in both and helping Cal Poly become the first school in conference history to sweep all four Big West titles in men’s and women’s track & field and cross country during a single academic year. In his debut as a Mustang in the fall, Bove — who was a two-time Second Team All-American in the indoor mile while competing for LSU from 2019-23 — qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships by placing eighth at the NCAA West Regional, tied for the second-highest individual finish by a Mustang man at the meet in program history. The USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete also ran away with the individual title at the conference meet to be crowned Big West Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

Davis Bove at the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships, held at Cal Poly in May. (Photo/Owen Main, Cal Poly Athletics)

On the track, the graduate student tore up the school record books. Indoors, Bove became the fifth Mustang ever to run a sub-four-minute mile with the second-fastest time in school history (3:58.0) and he established a program record in the men’s 1,000-meter (2:20.97). Then outdoors, the Franklin, Tenn. native qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries in both the 1,500 and 5,000, and scored a total of 18 team points for the Mustangs at the Big West Championships, winning the conference title in the men’s 1,500 and securing second in the men’s 5,000. Bove placed 15th in the 1,500 at the NCAA West Prelims with a time of 3:41.76, finishing just .67 seconds away from advancing to the NCAA Championships based on time.

This past weekend at the 2024 Music City Track Carnival in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Bove shattered the school record in the men’s 1,500 with a lifetime best of 3:38.4 and earlier this year ran the third-fastest 5,000 time in program history (13:48.0).
This marks the second straight year a student-athlete from the Mustang track & field and cross country program has won the Cal Poly Male Athlete of the Year Award.

Kate Slack was named Cal Poly Female Scholar-Athlete for 2023-24. After graduating with a marketing degree, she continues her studies by pursuing a master’s degree in business analytics. (Photo/Cal Poly Athletics)

Kate Slack

A staple starting middle blocker in the lineup the last three years for the volleyball team, Slack led the Mustangs in blocks this past season and was fifth in the Big West in that category.

She surpassed the 300 block mark for her career during the season and set her career high for blocks in a match when she recorded nine against Cal State Fullerton.

Off the court, she has been a two-time Big West All-Academic honoree and carries a 3.97 GPA. She has one year of athletic eligibility as she pursues a master’s degree in business analytics.