Kostas Zaltos outdueled teammate Angelos Mantzouranis in the hammer throw to become the first Gophers athlete in eight years to win an individual championship at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Zaltos won the event with a personal-best throw of 256 feet, 2 inches. Zaltos reached that distance in the final of his four throws. Mantzouranis was second with an effort of 252-6. The winning distance by Zaltos is the sixth-best throw in NCAA history.
Zaltos’ championship was the 11th individual NCAA outdoor championship in program history. The most recent to win was Obsa Ali in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 2018.
Mantzouranis, a sophomore, and Zoltas, a senior, went into the event ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the events. Mantzouranis had the top throw in the nation this spring, 257-11; that is the third-best throw in NCAA history. Before Wednesday, Zaltos’ season-best throw was 255-7.
“Today I had the best series of my career,” Zaltos said. “I’ll take that. I am excited for the future. [Angelos and I] are the best duo of all-time in NCAA history. We are very excited about that.”
The Gophers’ 4x100 meter relay team of Zion Campbell, Kion Benjamin, Aaron Charles and Devin Augustine qualified for Friday’s finals with a school-record time of 38.16 seconds in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Christian Martin finished 17th in 110-meter hurdles semifinals and did not advance to the finals.
Charles Godfred finished fourth in the long jump with an effort of 25-11½. Godfred, who won the Big Ten Conference title, is ranked No. 2 in the nation.
