Gophers Headed to Raleigh, Tempe for Outdoor Action

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Golden Gophers track and field team is headed to Raleigh, N.C., at Tempe, Ariz., for split action this weekend from March 24-26 at North Carolina State and Arizona State University. The Gophers will compete against the likes of Xavier, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Michigan State, North Carolina, Indiana, Washington, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Ohio State, NC State, BYU, Iowa State, Northern Arizona, Kansas, UCLA and more.

About the 2022 Raleigh Relays
A large group of Minnesota's distance crew is headed to the Raleigh Relays, with action starting as early as Thursday with the meet concluding on Saturday, March 26. Minnesota will see many of its top distance runners compete in their primary events including Bethany and Megan Hasz in the 10000m, Alec Basten in the 3000m Steeplechase and much more. Running events on Thursday begin at 3:45 p.m. with the 10000m being contested at 9:25 p.m. CT. There is an ESPN livestream of all three days at this event on ESPN.com (ACCNX) and the ESPN app. Live results can also be found on FlashResults.com.

About the 2022 Arizona State Invitational
The Gophers are competing out west for the first time in the regular season for the first time since May of 2020 when the team competed at Stanford. This weekend the Maroon and Gold will begin competition at 11 a.m. CT with the men's hammer. Track events on Friday will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will run until 9 p.m. On Saturday competition will start at 11:30 a.m with the women's long jump while the running events will start at 4 p.m. and conclude at 8 p.m. with the 4x400m relay. There is no livestream for this event, but live results can be followed on FinishedResults.com.

Last Time Out: Entire Gophers Team Begins Outdoor Campaign in Orlando
Last weekend the University of Minnesota track and field program had many of its student-athletes open up their outdoor campaigns at the Black and Gold Invite in Orlando, Fla., at the University of Central Florida. Minnesota saw four individuals pick up victories over the two-day meet with Shelby Frank's discus toss being the highlight of the weekend going down as the No. 1 mark in the Big Ten and the No. 2 mark in the NCAA. Frank tossed a mark of 56.47m (185-3) to take the crown over a field that consisted of eight Power 5 opponents, six being from the Big Ten. Frank's mark goes down as the No. 2 throw in program history, shooting her past the likes of Aubrey Schmitt, Nikki Tzanakis and now only sits behind Agnes Esser's 2018 toss of 57.98m. Prior to lightning delaying in Orlando on day one, Amira Young earned another Gopher victory in the 200m. The former Big Ten champion posted a time of 23.39 in her outdoor season opener to claim the win. Not picking up an event win, but making some noise on the Gophers' all-time top 10 list was Jaydon Antoine in the men's long jump. His new personal best of 7.56m (24-9 3/4) was good enough for fourth overall at the meet and shot him up to No. 7 in program history in the event. On day two of the meet it was Nyalaam Jok who opened up her outdoor career with a new collegiate personal best with a leap of 1.79m (5-10 1/2). Jok picked up the win in impressive fashion, not missing a bar until the 1.79m mark and claimed the win by almost three full inches on the second place finisher from UConn.

A Look Back at the 2021 Outdoor Campaign
Last season the University of Minnesota sent a total of 11 events to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. Of those, nine return to Minneapolis for the 2022 campaign. Those returning include NCAA 3000m steeplechase runner-up Alec Basten, NCAA bronze medalists Bethany Hasz (5000m) and Kostas Zaltos (Hammer Throw). Returning Second Team All-Americans include Abby Kohut-Jackson, the entire women's 4x400m relay team and Shelby Frank. Those returning as All-America Honorable Mention recipients are Kyle Atkinson and Tess Keyzers. At the 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Championships both Minnesota's men's and and women's teams finished third in Champaign, Ill.

Minnesota To Host 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championships
For the first time since opening their new state-of-the-art outdoor track and field facility, the University of Minnesota will be the hosts of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in May. Located in the heart of the new Athletes Village area, the nine-lane track with the Beynon 2000 surface will be the focal point of the Midwest's top track and field student-athletes from May 13-15. Tickets are available to purchase now and can be found here.

Up Next:
Next week the Golden Gophers return to Minnesota for action at the Hamline Invite in St. Paul. That meet will be contested on April 2.

For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.

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Players Mentioned

Jaydon Antoine

Kyle Atkinson

Alec Basten

Shelby Frank

Bethany Hasz

Megan Hasz

Nyalaam Jok

Tess Keyzers

Abby Kohut-Jackson

Amira Young

Kostas Zaltos