EUGENE, Ore. — Kostas Zaltos won the NCAA hammer throw and fellow Greek thrower Angelos Mantzouranis was second to help Minnesota take the Day 1 lead at the outdoor track and field championships Wednesday.
Zaltos and Mantzouranis are the first teammates to go 1-2 in the NCAA hammer throw since Virginia Tech did it in 2011. Zaltos won with a throw of 256 feet, 2 inches in the fourth round to become the first Minnesota outdoor champion since 2018 and just the third since 1971. Mantzouranis, who finished third as a freshman last year, had a personal-best 252-6.
New Mexico also went 1-2 in the 10,000 meters when freshman Ishmael Kipkurui beat defending champion Habtom Samuel with a time of 29 minutes, 7.70 seconds. Last year, Samuel became the first man in school history to win an NCAA outdoor 5,000 or 10,000 title.
Minnesota sits atop the team standings with 23 points, with New Mexico and Florida tied for second at 18.
Jason Swarens of Wisconsin landed a personal-best 69-8 on his final toss to win the shot put and deny Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan his fourth straight NCAA title. Swarens became the first man in Badgers history to win a national title in the shot put and the school’s first male thrower to win an NCAA title since Michael Lihrman won consecutive indoor weight throw titles in 2014 and ’15.
Aleksandr Solovev broke his own Texas A&M record with a clearance of 18-11 1/2 to become the pole vault champion.
Florida senior Malcolm Clemons jumped a 26-4 1/2 on his first attempt and held on to win his first national title in the long jump.
Miami’s Devoux Deysel won the javelin with a throw of 268-2.
The men’s events continue Friday at Hayward Field.
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