The Mustang Way: Student-Athlete Nate Colley Makes His Mark in Men’s Soccer and Biomedical Engineering

It’s a Saturday afternoon in San Luis Obispo, the weather slightly cool for September on the Central Coast. Cal Poly students fill the stands of Spanos Stadium decked out in green and gold, rooting for the men’s soccer team as they go head-to-head against UC Santa Barbara in their final game before the Big West Conference Tournament. Eleven minutes in, neither team has scored when the referee calls a penalty against Santa Barbara, giving the Mustangs a chance to take the lead.

Center midfielder Nate Colley steps up to take the penalty kick, but the opposing goalie leaps to block the ball. The goalie quickly recovers but realizes he isn’t fast enough as Colley rushes forward for a second chance. He heads the ball straight into the net, sending the crowd into celebration.

“Having the crowd there cheering and being able to take home the win was incredibly fun,” Colley said, thinking back on the game the Mustangs won 2-0. “That’s something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

As a biomedical engineering graduate student and three-year team captain, Colley rarely had a moment to spare throughout college. Yet, he was a four-time Big West All- Academic Honoree — an accolade reserved for student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

The Danville, California, native was also the recipient of the inaugural Mustang Way Award in 2024, which recognizes the Cal Poly student-athlete who best embodies leadership, character, work ethic and community service.

“I was lucky enough to be recognized for exhibiting those qualities,” Colley said. “I can’t thank my coaching staff and teammates enough, because they really were the backbone of all of that.”

Early on in his college career, Colley learned the importance of leaning on his teammates and classmates to keep himself grounded while balancing rigorous biomedical engineering courses and collegiate soccer.

“There are a lot of people who really helped me out,” Colley said. “Ashton Alonge, Ori Bitton, Luke Mandic, to name a few — we did a lot of studying together and, you know, the company you keep is really important.”

Alonge is a computer science graduate student and one of Colley’s teammates.

“Nate’s always been a very dedicated guy and did a really good job balancing athletics and academics,” he said. “I think a lot of people can look to him as an example of what good time management and prioritization looks like. There were countless times when we used to come back from practice and immediately start studying together, which took a lot of commitment but definitely paid off in the long run.”

Colley also utilized the resources available to him at Cal Poly to stay ahead, from mentorship in the athletic department to academic guidance.

“The College of Engineering has a lot to offer students, and I was always proactive about talking to my professors,” Colley said. “I haven’t had one bad experience with Cal Poly professors — they were always willing to give me their time, and I think that helped me tremendously.”

While Colley made a name for himself on the soccer field during his Cal Poly career, he hopes to carry the skills he has learned into the engineering industry after graduation. His experience in the Contemporary Issues in Biomedical Engineering course reinforced that goal.

“The theme for the class was how to prevent patient harm in health care, and it taught me how biomedical engineering can be a force for good,” he said.

Colley applies the lessons he learned at Cal Poly to his work as an engineer and in his daily life.

“If I can have a positive impact on the people around me and those I’d be serving by working in the engineering field, then that would be a job well done for me.”

His legacy as the first recipient of the Mustang Way Award will leave a lasting impact as future student-athletes strive to follow in his footsteps.

By Taylor Villanueva