University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, May 16
Eugene, OR.
2:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Women's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Throws
/ Women's Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Gopher Men Finish Second, Women Seventh at Big Ten Championships
5/18/2025 7:12:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota track and field teams finished second on the men's side and seventh on the women's side at the first Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. The Golden Gophers collected four conference titles over the three-day meet and earned 10 medals between the men and women.
The Maroon and Gold set three Big Ten Outdoor Championship meet records during the weekend, starting with the men's hammer throw and Kostas Zaltos. In his final Big Ten Championships Zaltos won his fourth Big Ten gold medal with an effort of 77.67m (254-10). The fourth Big Ten title in the hammer throw makes Zaltos the first man to win the event at the conference meet four times. Zaltos' meet-record toss of 77.67m (254-10) broke the meet record that was held by his teammate, Angelos Mantzouranis, who finished second overall to claim his second Big Ten medal of his career as just a sophomore. Mantzouranis' runner-up mark of 75.11m (246-5) helped Minnesota earn eight points while Isaiah Schafer's lifetime best toss of 66.57m (218-5) was seventh and helped Minnesota capture 20 vital team points from just the hammer throw.
"I am happy to be here again and compete," Zaltos said after his win. "That was my last dance, I was very pumped and excited to be here and perform and set another meet record. Last year Angelos messaged me saying 'I broke it a little bit just to give you something for next year,' and I said, 'just wait, I will break it again,' and I am happy I did."
The hammer throw sweep for the 'U' was completed by Anthonett Nabwe, who also set a Big Ten Championships meet record with a lifetime best 69.85m (229-2) which also goes down as a new Minnesota school record. Nabwe was joined on the podium by Hadley Streit who came in fourth with a personal best hammer throw of 65.65m (215-4), which improved her fifth-best standing in the hammer throw in school history.
"The main thing was consistency," Nabwe said. "Yesterday I had a great practice that led into today. My coach kept reminding me of practice and to think like in practice and be relaxed. Consistency is a great factor."
The third championships meet record came from the men's 4x100m relay team of Zion Campbell, Kion Benjamin, Aaron Charles and Devin Augustine on Sunday. In a time of 38.54 the Maroon and Gold broke their own Big Ten Championships meet record that was set in 2023 (38.87). Coming into the meet as the No. 2 ranked 4x100m relay team in the conference, Minnesota's quartet handled Southern California's 4x100m relay team that came in with the top time in the conference and the No. 2 time in the NCAA at 38.41.
"It's a wonderful experience," Benjamin said after the performance. "You know, we came into the meet having the meet record already. So, the goal was to break the meet record on Hayward Field. It's a beautiful stadium, a beautiful facility. So we had one job, and that was to come home with the gold medal. Some of my new teammates on the team, I will see them in the future. They have big things to do, and I just wanted to leave with them with a bang. I think that's exactly what we did."
In the men's long jump Charles Godfred successfully defended his Big Ten crown in a leap of 8.05m (26-5). Godfred became the first man to defend his conference long jump crown since 2014 and was just eight centimeters short of Jesse Owens' championship meet record of 8.13m that was set back in 1935.
"I can definitely take confidence from my jumps because I know I am capable of doing something big," Godfred said. "When I saw the red flag, I knew I had something I needed to prove. When I get back home, I just need to buckle up and tighten my seatbelt and make sure everything is well organized, and any errors are cleaned up and just get the work done. I know something big is coming at the regionals and also the NCAA."
Mantzouranis' silver medal on day one was matched by Jak Urlacher in the men's pole vault. The senior cleared 5.59m (18-4) and earned eight big team points while adding a second Big Ten medal to his collection after winning the competition in 2024 in Ann Arbor.
After a gold in the hammer throw Nabwe, a redshirt sophomore, added another Big Ten medal to her collection in the discus throw. Nabwe's throw of 55.36m (181-7) had the Liberian national in the lead until the final round before dropping to the silver medal position by the competition's end. Nabwe's incredible 18 team points earned for the women matched Devin Augustine's 18 team points he earned the men's team in Eugene.
Using back-to-back lifetime bests in the 400m hurdles, Ahmed Khadar snagged his first Big Ten medal in a time of 50.49 seconds on Sunday. Khadar qualified with a then-lifetime best 50.86 on Friday and then dropped that to 50.49 to give him the fastest time in that event by a Gopher man in 21 years (Mikael Jakobsson, 49.72 - 2004).
The first bronze medal for Minnesota came on Saturday in the women's 3000m steeplechase. True freshman Isabelle Schmitz clocked a 9:57.56 to earn her second Big Ten medal of the athletic year (DMR bronze medalist indoors) and earned a spot on the Big Ten's All-Freshmen team as the highest placing freshman finisher in the event.
After a seventh-place finish in the 100m, Devin Augustine bounced back with a bronze medal finish in the 200m. The Trinidad & Tobago sprinter tied his season best 20.47 in the final to earn the third-place spot and finish the day scoring in three different events (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
The Maroon and Gold set three Big Ten Outdoor Championship meet records during the weekend, starting with the men's hammer throw and Kostas Zaltos. In his final Big Ten Championships Zaltos won his fourth Big Ten gold medal with an effort of 77.67m (254-10). The fourth Big Ten title in the hammer throw makes Zaltos the first man to win the event at the conference meet four times. Zaltos' meet-record toss of 77.67m (254-10) broke the meet record that was held by his teammate, Angelos Mantzouranis, who finished second overall to claim his second Big Ten medal of his career as just a sophomore. Mantzouranis' runner-up mark of 75.11m (246-5) helped Minnesota earn eight points while Isaiah Schafer's lifetime best toss of 66.57m (218-5) was seventh and helped Minnesota capture 20 vital team points from just the hammer throw.
"I am happy to be here again and compete," Zaltos said after his win. "That was my last dance, I was very pumped and excited to be here and perform and set another meet record. Last year Angelos messaged me saying 'I broke it a little bit just to give you something for next year,' and I said, 'just wait, I will break it again,' and I am happy I did."
The hammer throw sweep for the 'U' was completed by Anthonett Nabwe, who also set a Big Ten Championships meet record with a lifetime best 69.85m (229-2) which also goes down as a new Minnesota school record. Nabwe was joined on the podium by Hadley Streit who came in fourth with a personal best hammer throw of 65.65m (215-4), which improved her fifth-best standing in the hammer throw in school history.
"The main thing was consistency," Nabwe said. "Yesterday I had a great practice that led into today. My coach kept reminding me of practice and to think like in practice and be relaxed. Consistency is a great factor."
The third championships meet record came from the men's 4x100m relay team of Zion Campbell, Kion Benjamin, Aaron Charles and Devin Augustine on Sunday. In a time of 38.54 the Maroon and Gold broke their own Big Ten Championships meet record that was set in 2023 (38.87). Coming into the meet as the No. 2 ranked 4x100m relay team in the conference, Minnesota's quartet handled Southern California's 4x100m relay team that came in with the top time in the conference and the No. 2 time in the NCAA at 38.41.
"It's a wonderful experience," Benjamin said after the performance. "You know, we came into the meet having the meet record already. So, the goal was to break the meet record on Hayward Field. It's a beautiful stadium, a beautiful facility. So we had one job, and that was to come home with the gold medal. Some of my new teammates on the team, I will see them in the future. They have big things to do, and I just wanted to leave with them with a bang. I think that's exactly what we did."
In the men's long jump Charles Godfred successfully defended his Big Ten crown in a leap of 8.05m (26-5). Godfred became the first man to defend his conference long jump crown since 2014 and was just eight centimeters short of Jesse Owens' championship meet record of 8.13m that was set back in 1935.
"I can definitely take confidence from my jumps because I know I am capable of doing something big," Godfred said. "When I saw the red flag, I knew I had something I needed to prove. When I get back home, I just need to buckle up and tighten my seatbelt and make sure everything is well organized, and any errors are cleaned up and just get the work done. I know something big is coming at the regionals and also the NCAA."
Mantzouranis' silver medal on day one was matched by Jak Urlacher in the men's pole vault. The senior cleared 5.59m (18-4) and earned eight big team points while adding a second Big Ten medal to his collection after winning the competition in 2024 in Ann Arbor.
After a gold in the hammer throw Nabwe, a redshirt sophomore, added another Big Ten medal to her collection in the discus throw. Nabwe's throw of 55.36m (181-7) had the Liberian national in the lead until the final round before dropping to the silver medal position by the competition's end. Nabwe's incredible 18 team points earned for the women matched Devin Augustine's 18 team points he earned the men's team in Eugene.
Using back-to-back lifetime bests in the 400m hurdles, Ahmed Khadar snagged his first Big Ten medal in a time of 50.49 seconds on Sunday. Khadar qualified with a then-lifetime best 50.86 on Friday and then dropped that to 50.49 to give him the fastest time in that event by a Gopher man in 21 years (Mikael Jakobsson, 49.72 - 2004).
The first bronze medal for Minnesota came on Saturday in the women's 3000m steeplechase. True freshman Isabelle Schmitz clocked a 9:57.56 to earn her second Big Ten medal of the athletic year (DMR bronze medalist indoors) and earned a spot on the Big Ten's All-Freshmen team as the highest placing freshman finisher in the event.
After a seventh-place finish in the 100m, Devin Augustine bounced back with a bronze medal finish in the 200m. The Trinidad & Tobago sprinter tied his season best 20.47 in the final to earn the third-place spot and finish the day scoring in three different events (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
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