Nebraska Men, Minnesota Women Win B1G Team Titles

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photos courtesy Big Ten Conference

With arrival of Pac-12 powers Washington, Oregon, Southern California and UCLA next year, it is plausible 2024 will be the last year a Midwest school can win a Big Ten championship in outdoor track and field.

Nebraska’s men and Minnesota’s women made the most of it, rolling to titles Sunday at Ann Arbor, Mich.

It was fitting to hold the last such gathering in Ann Arbor, the site of the Big Ten’s most memorable meet, in 1935, when Jesse Owens set four world records in 45 minutes.

There were no world records this time, but there were four men meriting worldwide attention:

>> Nebraska’s Tyus Wilson high jumped to a collegiate lead of 7 feet, 6 inches (2.29m). That is tied for fourth in the world and second among Americans behind world leader JuVaughn Harrison (7-8/2.34m). It was Wilson’s third jump this season of 7-5 or higher.

>> Purdue’s Cameron Miller ran 200 meters in a wind-aided 19.97 seconds (+3.1). Miller, a transfer from Louisville, ranks seventh in the world under all conditions and third among Americans. He has a wind-legal 20.17 in finishing eighth at last year’s NCAA Championships.

>> Nebraska’s Darius Luff repeated as champion in the 110 hurdles in 13.25. That equals his No. 2 collegiate time and ranks sixth in the world, fifth among Americans.

>> Iowa’s Mike Stein set a meet record of 266 feet, 4 inches (81.19m) in the javelin. That ranks No. 2 in the NCAA, No. 4 among Americans and just outside the world top 20.

The Cornhuskers repeated as men’s champions with 136 points. In eight field events, they scored 91, enough to win without a single point on the track.

Iowa was second with 86, Wisconsin third with 78 and Michigan fourth with 72.

Minnesota’s Devin Augustine, of Trinidad and Tobago, tied the meet record of 10.05 in the 100 meters. He was third in the 200 in 20.17.

Other winners in the throws were Ohio State shot putter Hayden Tobias, 65-7.50 (20.00m); Purdue discus thrower Seth Allen, 199-11 (60.95m), and Minnesota freshman Angelos Mantzouranis, of Greece, 246-6 (75.15m) in the hammer. Allen, who won on his final attempt, was a Pan American under-20 gold medalist last year.

Minnesota’s Zak Urlacher won the pole vault with a first-attempt PB of 18-1 (5.51m), beating Illinois freshman Cody Johnston (17-11/5.46m). Indiana’s Nathan Stone, a five-time Big Ten champion, failed at his opening height of 16-11 (5.16m).

Wisconsin’s Adam Spencer, the NCAA indoor mile runner-up from Australia, won the 800 in 1:47.96 over Cameron Marshall of Indiana. Marshall, the defending champion, was second in 1:48.17. Spencer’s splits were 55.09/52.87.

Michigan’s Trent McFarland and Nick Foster were 1-2 in the 1,500 in 3:43.59 and 3:43.64.

Gophers dig deep, come out on top

Minnesota won only three of 21 events but scored in 16, taking its first women’s title since 2018 and third in the past eight Big Ten meets.

The Gophers capped the meet by winning the 4x400 relay by one-hundredth of a second over Ohio State, 3:33.34 to 3:33.35.

Minnesota scored 131 points, Nebraska 115 1/3 and Ohio State 115. Indoor champion Illinois was fourth with 96, featuring 61 in four jumps.

Only doubler was Penn State’s Florence Caron, winner of the 10,000 Friday in 33:04.18 and 5,000 Sunday in 15:52.39.

Reigning NCAA champions repeating in the Big Ten were Michigan’s Savannah Sutherland, of Canada, with a meet record of 55.01 in the 400 hurdles; Nebraska’s Rhema Otabor, of the Bahamas, 189-5 (57.75m) in the javelin, and Nebraska’s Axelina Johansson, of Sweden, in the shot put, 60-8 (18.49m)

Besides the 4x400, Minnesota’s winners were freshman Zoie Dundon, a former hockey player, in the steeplechase, 10:09.56, and Shelby Frank in the hammer, 222-5 (67.79m).

Illini winners were Tacoria Humphrey in the long jump, 21-0.75 (6.46m); Tori Thomas in the pole vault, meet record of 14-10 (4.52m), and Rose Yeboah, of Ghana, in the high jump, 5-11.50 (1.82m).

Humphrey was 12th with one attempt left in prelims, then climbed to first with a jump of 20-6.50 (6.26m). Illini jumpers rank 1-3-5-6 on the NCAA list and went 1-4-5-8 in the Big Ten.

Ohio State scored 61 points in five sprint events. Leah Bertrand won the 100 in 11.16 and was second in the 200 to teammate Fatouma Conde, whose time was 22.91.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.