The No. 9 University of Minnesota men’s track and field team has qualified seven events and 10 student-athletes to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The Maroon and Gold qualified by finishing in the top 12 of their respective events at the NCAA West Regional at Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station at E.B. Cushing Stadium on May 28 and May 30.
The 10 student-athletes for the Golden Gophers are the most for the men’s program since 2003 when the team finished ninth overall at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. That year Adam Steele won the 400m NCAA title in a school-record time of 44.57, which still stands today, with six of the 10 earning All-America accolades for the now USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Phil Lundin led Gophers.
Both of Minnesota’s ‘The Bowerman’ Watch List hammer throwers, Angelos Mantzouranis and Kostas Zaltos, both advanced on the first day of competition in Texas. 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.
Two-time Big Ten long jump champion Charles Godfred punched his return ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday. The Nigerian only needed to use two of his three attempts to qualify with his 8.10m (26-7) earning him the spot. Godfred’s wind-legal leap (+1.4 m/s) goes down as the No. 2 long jump mark in NCAA West Regional history.
The final Wednesday qualifier for the Maroon and Gold men was Jak Urlacher in the pole vault. The former walk-on vaulter reached the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career by finishing in the final qualifying position, 12th overall, with a clearance of 5.32m (17-5 1/2). Urlacher, a two-time Big Ten medalist, was one of 14 vaulters to clear 5.32m (17-5 1/2), but was able to advance based on having fewer misses throughout the competition.
Friday kicked off with Hakeem Ford earning his first career ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump. The sophomore bounced back from his 10th-place Big Ten Championships finish in a big way with a leap 16.03m (52-7 1/4) and finished eighth overall in Bryan-College Station. Ford’s qualification for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump makes him the first Minnesota man to earn an outdoor championships bid since 1948 when Lloyd LaMois won the NCAA title in the event for the Gophers with a mark of 45-10.
The first event on the track to qualify for a trip to Hayward Field was the men’s 4x100m relay team of Zion Campbell, Kion Benjamin, Aaron Charles and Devin Augustine. The quartet clocked a heat three winning time of 39.07 to finish sixth overall at E.B. Cushing Stadium. The qualification for the 4x100m relay team is the second time in the last three years the Maroon and Gold have qualified for outdoor NCAAs in the event. It also marks just the second time in school history that Minnesota will run the 4x100m relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with Trinidad & Tobago natives Kion Benjamin and Devin Augustine being on both of those historic relay teams.
For just the third time in school history a Gopher man qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 110m hurdles. Christian Martin etched his name into Minnesota’s history books with his time of 13.53 (+1.1 m/s) to finish 10th overall at the NCAA West Regional. Martin’s time earned him a qualifying spot out of heat three and put his name next to Michael Buchanan (2023) and Dave Odegard (1960) as Gophers to qualify for NCAAs in the high hurdles.
Men’s Qualified Events (Event, Regional Finish, Qualifying Performance)
Charles Godfred – Long Jump (1st. 8.10m | 26-7)
Angelos Mantzouranis – Hammer Throw (1st. 76.10m | 249-8)
Kostas Zaltos – Hammer Throw (2nd. 75.63m | 248-1)
Devin Augustine – 4x100m Relay (6th. 39.07)
Kion Benjamin – 4x100m Relay (6th. 39.07)
*Aaron Charles – 4x100m Relay (6th. 39.07)
*Zion Campbell – 4x100m Relay (6th. 39.07)
*Hakeem Ford – Triple Jump (8th. 16.03m | 52-7 1/4)
*Christian Martin – 110m Hurdles (10th. 13.53 | +1.1 m/s)
*Jak Urlacher – Pole Vault (12th. 5.32m | 17-5 1/4)
* Denotes first-time NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
