Gophers Competing at Tomcat Twlight, Mt. Sac Relays

MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota track and field program will see action at both the St. Thomas Tom Cat Invitational and the 62nd annual Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, Calif. this week. Minnesota will compete against the likes of Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, Northern Arizona, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Stanford, Texas Tech, Texas and UCLA at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

About the 2022 Tom Cat Invitational
The St. Thomas Tom Cat Invitational is completely contested on Wednesday, April 13 with the first events beginning at 3:15 p.m. CT with the women's 3000m steeplechase. Field events being at 3:30 p.m. with the men's shot, men's discus, women's pole vault and women's long jump.

It's the first home competition of 2022 for St. Thomas, which had two indoor meets called off due to weather that Minnesota was set to also run in this year. The Tommie meet will include athletes from 20 different schools from the Upper Midwest, including three Division I and three D-II programs. Schools represented include Minnesota State, St. Thomas, South Dakota St. and many more.

About the 2022 Mt. SAC Relays
Held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium and hosted by Mt. San Antonio College, the Mt. SAC Relays have featured Olympic champions, world champions, and record-setting performances throughout its 62-year history. With hundreds of athletes from all levels of competition heading to Mt. SAC, USATF has partnered with the meet to hold invitational events featuring the world's best athletes. The Gophers will run on Thursday and Friday in primarily distance events.

Minnesota's first event will come in the form on the 3000m steeplechase with Abby Kohut-Jackson competing. Events can be followed live on FinishedResults.Trackscoreobard.com. The conclusion of the meet that is held on Saturday, can be seen on CNBC between the hours of 4-6 p.m.

Last Time Out: Gophers Battle Through the Elements at Tennessee Relays
The University of Minnesota track and field team battled through the elements at the 54th annual Tennessee Relays racking up a total of seven victories while setting a pair of program top 10 times. The three-day meet began on Thursday with the Gophers competing in the hammer throw. Kostas Zaltos finished as the meet's top collegiate finisher with a mark of 69.31m (227-4) to edge competitors from Southeast Missouri, Tennessee, Eastern Michigan and Georgia that all had marks beyond 60 meters. Friday's action in Knoxville saw challenging weather with high winds, cold temperatures and a mix of precipitation. The Volunteers hosted its meet with a 'Power Hour' as its main attraction. The events each had one heat of the meet's top competitors in various events. Minnesota saw 13 compete in the Power Hour events, earning three victories throughout the hour and a half of action. Amira Young was able to sweep her two events, the 100m and the 200m with times of 11.35 (+4.5 wind) and 23.76 (+2.6 wind), respectively. Abigail Schaaffe clocked a 59.75 to grab the third win for the Gophers with Val Larson finishing as the runner up just 0.12 seconds behind Schaaffe. Other notable performances during the Power Hour included Kion Benjamin in the men's 100m, finishing as the runner-up at 10.62 (+2.9 wind). Devia Brown was third in the shot put at 16.27 (53-4 1/2), Odell Frye was fourth in the 100m at 11.50 (+4.5 wind), Jayla Campbell was third in the 400m at 55.27 and Erin Reidy was fourth in the 1500m at 4:26.36.

Gopher Men's Hammer Ranked First in the Nation
In the first outdoor edition of the USTFCCCA's #EventSquad rankings the Golden Gophers had their men's hammer throw team ranked No. 1 in the nation. With the combination of Kosts Zaltos, Jake Kubiatowicz, Kaleb Siekmeier and Carter Hughes, the Gophers have an average season-best mark of 64.91m (213-0) which is over two meters higher than Long Beach State's crew and three meters better than the next best team in the Midwest Region in Southeast Missouri.

In other #EventSquad rankings the Gopher men are ranked No. 4 in the nation in the 3000m Steeplechase and on the women's side have top 20 squads in the 3000m steeplechase (No.8), 100m (No. 10), hammer (No. 15), 400m hurdles (No. 18) and the 200m (No. 20).

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 Minnesota hosts its first outdoor home meet at the Brave Like Gabe Invite on April 20, starting at 11 a.m. 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.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kion Benjamin

Devia Brown

Jayla Campbell

Odell Frye

Carter Hughes

Abby Kohut-Jackson

Jake Kubiatowicz

Val Larson

Erin Reidy

Abigail Schaaffe

Kaleb Siekmeier

Amira Young

Kostas Zaltos