University of Minnesota men’s track and field hammer throwers Kostas Zaltos and Angelos Mantzouranis are receiving votes on the Men’s Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championships Watch List for The Bowerman, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Thursday. The honor for the Greek throwers is the third time both have at least received votes for the MVP of collegiate track and field.
The award considers athletes’ performances during the NCAA indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons with the performance window running from December 1 of the preceding year through the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the year in which the award is given.
Both Angelos Mantzouranis and Kostas Zaltos advanced on the first day of competition at the NCAA West Regional at Texas A&M. Mantzouranis won the meet for the third-straight year for the Golden Gophers with a mark of 76.10m (249-8), the second-best hammer throw performance in NCAA West Regional history and also set a new E.B. Cushing Stadium facility record in the process. Zaltos, the 2025 Big Ten hammer throw champion, was close behind in the runner-up position at 75.63m (248-1) to qualify for his fourth career NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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 holds the No. 1 spot in the NCAA this season in the hammer throw with a mark of 78.61m (257-11) that he registered at Hamline’s ‘Meet of the UnSaintly’. The throw for Mantzouranis most notably qualified the now-21-year-old sophomore for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, later this year. The record-breaking toss for the Greek came on his fifth attempt of the competition and moved him up to No. 3 all-time on the USTFCCCA all-time collegiate lists and is the furthest since Andras Haklits (78.63m) of Georgia back in 2002.
In the latest IAAF World Rankings Zaltos is 22nd overall in the world while Mantzouranis is 23rd. In the ‘Road to Tokyo’ rankings, which pull performances from a smaller window of time compared to the overall rankings, Mantzouranis is No. 9 and Zaltos is No. 21.
Semifinalists for the award will be announced Wednesday, June 25 (women) and Thursday, June 26 (men). Finalists will be announced the week of Monday, June 30. Three finalists for The Bowerman will be selected in late June following the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and the winners will be announced in December.
THE BOWERMAN – MEN’S PRE-NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS WATCH LIST (June 5, 2025)
Mykolas Alekna, California (Discus)
Jordan Anthony, Arkansas (Sprints)
James Corrigan, BYU (Mid-Distance/Steeple)
Nathaniel Ezekiel, Baylor (Sprints/Hurdles)
Ishmael Kipkurui, New Mexico (Distance)
Liam Murphy, Villanova (Mid-Distance/Distance)
Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, Ole Miss (Throws)
Habtom Samuel, New Mexico (Distance)
Ethan Strand, North Carolina (Mid-Distance/Distance)
Ja’Kobe Tharp, Auburn (Hurdles)
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
