For the first time in program history the University of Minnesota track and field program has a two-time Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year winner. NCAA hammer throw champion Kostas Zaltos added a second yearly conference honor to his trophy case after winning it in 2023, the conference office announced on Wednesday.
Zaltos becomes the first Big Ten man to win the honor twice in a career since Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Purdue did it in 2015 and 2016. This season Zaltos was also named the Big Ten’s Field Athlete of the Championships after the Greek national broke the conference championships record in the hammer throw at Hayward Field in May. Zaltos’ NCAA title-winning throw came on his fourth attempt of the competition where he sent a lifetime best 78.08m (256-2) out to become the first Gopher since Obsa Ali (2018, 3000m Steeplechase) to win an individual NCAA title. Zaltos’ lifetime best throw puts him No. 6 all-time in NCAA hammer throw history as he departs collegiate competition after four First Team All-America finishes.
In his career Zaltos amassed 40 Big Ten Championships points, 30 NCAA Championships points, he was four-for-four in both top three NCAA finishes and four-for-four in lifetime bests in the NCAA hammer throw final. He was just the third man in NCAA Championships history to win the hammer throw with a mark beyond 78 meters (Balazs Kiss and Ken Flax). Additionally, during the 2025 season, Zaltos sent 54.2 percent of his 48 hammer throw attempts beyond 75 meters. With his first-place finish at Big Tens, he helped the Maroon and Gold finish in a tie for second while at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships his winning performance in the hammer throw helped Minnesota finish seventh overall, the highest finish by the program since 1948 (77 years).
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
