University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, May 13
Bloomington, Ind.
All Day
University of Minnesota
vs
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track & Field
Wilkinson Clinches Gophers Third Straight Steeplechase Big Ten Title
5/13/2023 9:07:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
Minnesota has won five of the last six steeplechase Big Ten crowns.
MINNEAPOLIS – Once again the University of Minnesota men's track and field team is at the top of the Big Ten in the 3000m steeplechase with Matthew Wilkinson winning the crown on Saturday night in Bloomington, Ind., at 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The conference title is the fifth in the last six championships dating back to 2018.
Minnesota's men's team sits in second place overall out of 13 teams after the second day of the conference championships with 46 points behind Nebraska (84 points) and ahead of Wisconsin (40 points) and Michigan State (34 points).
Wilkinson bested the rest of the field by over eight seconds to earn his first career Big Ten title. After finishing behind teammate Alec Basten in 2022 Wilkinson was not to be denied in 2023 in a time of 8:38.40. Minnesota earned a meet-high 14 points in the event with Noah Kohut-Jackson breaking out a lifetime best 8:59.43 to earn a fifth-place finish and four more team points for the Maroon and Gold.
Saturday's schedule had the Maroon and Gold busy with 13 different events, including a number of preliminary competitions. On Saturday Minnesota got a dozen qualifiers to Sunday's final day of competition with five coming on the men's side and seven on the women's. That started with the women's 400m with both Janielle Josephs and Jayla Campbell both punching their ticket to the conference final for the second straight year. For Josephs the final is her third straight with her 53.14 slotting her in the No. 7 seed into Sunday's final with Campbell behind her at No. 8 (53.18).
Minnesota's short sprints group was phenomenal on Saturday with both the men and women qualifying three to Sunday's 100m final. On the men's side Kion Benjamin (10.18), Devin Augustine (10.21) and Carlon Hosten (10.25) all snagged spots with Benjamin's time being at the top of the preliminary list. Hosten's time of 10.25 goes down as a lifetime best for the Trinidad & Tobago national and improves on his No. 3 time in school history behind Augustine and Benjamin.
The women got season-best performances from all three of their qualifiers with Amira Young's 11.19 (+1.8 m/s) breaking Lewis' previous school record from 2022 (11.20) to earn the No. 3 time overall in the prelims. Lewis earned a time qualifier with a time of 11.34 (+1.8 m/s) while Odell Frye got in at the No. 8 position in a time of 11.48 (+0.7 m/s).
The hurdles group continued the momentum for the 'U' with Michael Buchanan busting out a school record 13.69 (+0.9 m/s) in the 110m hurdles prelims to earn a spot in the Big Ten final in his conference meet debut. Buchanan has now broken the school record this season four times and heads into Sunday's final with the No. 4 overall time.
Sophomores Zariyah Black and Maja Maunsbach both earned spots in the 100m hurdles final in their second appearance at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Black clocked a 13.56 (+0.5 m/s) to earn a time qualifier while Maunsbach's 13.59 (+1.9 m/s) also snuck into Sunday's final at the No. 8 position.
The momentum seemingly did not slow down for Minnesota in the men's 800m with Seth Eliason earning a spot in the final. In his sixth year of eligibility Eliason earned a spot in his first career Big Ten final by winning his 800m heat in a time of 1:50.16 (1:50.157), edging Henry Johnson of Michigan (1:50.160) by three-thousandths of a second.
Lastly Minnesota ended the day with redshirt junior Taylor Kreitinger dropping the No. 9 time in program history in the 3000m steeplechase. On a humid day in Bloomington Kreitinger put down a time of 10:17.09 to snag four team points as the fifth-place finisher in just her second appearance at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Kreitinger used a late-race surge to move from the No. 9 spot in the field to the No. 5 spot with a final 400m split of 1:22.83.
The 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Championships will resume on Sunday morning. For the Maroon and Gold the first event in Bloomington will be the men's discus final that will begin at 10 a.m. CT. All events can be seen on B1G+ and live results can be followed on PTTiming.com.
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.
Minnesota's men's team sits in second place overall out of 13 teams after the second day of the conference championships with 46 points behind Nebraska (84 points) and ahead of Wisconsin (40 points) and Michigan State (34 points).
Wilkinson bested the rest of the field by over eight seconds to earn his first career Big Ten title. After finishing behind teammate Alec Basten in 2022 Wilkinson was not to be denied in 2023 in a time of 8:38.40. Minnesota earned a meet-high 14 points in the event with Noah Kohut-Jackson breaking out a lifetime best 8:59.43 to earn a fifth-place finish and four more team points for the Maroon and Gold.
Saturday's schedule had the Maroon and Gold busy with 13 different events, including a number of preliminary competitions. On Saturday Minnesota got a dozen qualifiers to Sunday's final day of competition with five coming on the men's side and seven on the women's. That started with the women's 400m with both Janielle Josephs and Jayla Campbell both punching their ticket to the conference final for the second straight year. For Josephs the final is her third straight with her 53.14 slotting her in the No. 7 seed into Sunday's final with Campbell behind her at No. 8 (53.18).
Minnesota's short sprints group was phenomenal on Saturday with both the men and women qualifying three to Sunday's 100m final. On the men's side Kion Benjamin (10.18), Devin Augustine (10.21) and Carlon Hosten (10.25) all snagged spots with Benjamin's time being at the top of the preliminary list. Hosten's time of 10.25 goes down as a lifetime best for the Trinidad & Tobago national and improves on his No. 3 time in school history behind Augustine and Benjamin.
The women got season-best performances from all three of their qualifiers with Amira Young's 11.19 (+1.8 m/s) breaking Lewis' previous school record from 2022 (11.20) to earn the No. 3 time overall in the prelims. Lewis earned a time qualifier with a time of 11.34 (+1.8 m/s) while Odell Frye got in at the No. 8 position in a time of 11.48 (+0.7 m/s).
The hurdles group continued the momentum for the 'U' with Michael Buchanan busting out a school record 13.69 (+0.9 m/s) in the 110m hurdles prelims to earn a spot in the Big Ten final in his conference meet debut. Buchanan has now broken the school record this season four times and heads into Sunday's final with the No. 4 overall time.
Sophomores Zariyah Black and Maja Maunsbach both earned spots in the 100m hurdles final in their second appearance at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Black clocked a 13.56 (+0.5 m/s) to earn a time qualifier while Maunsbach's 13.59 (+1.9 m/s) also snuck into Sunday's final at the No. 8 position.
The momentum seemingly did not slow down for Minnesota in the men's 800m with Seth Eliason earning a spot in the final. In his sixth year of eligibility Eliason earned a spot in his first career Big Ten final by winning his 800m heat in a time of 1:50.16 (1:50.157), edging Henry Johnson of Michigan (1:50.160) by three-thousandths of a second.
Lastly Minnesota ended the day with redshirt junior Taylor Kreitinger dropping the No. 9 time in program history in the 3000m steeplechase. On a humid day in Bloomington Kreitinger put down a time of 10:17.09 to snag four team points as the fifth-place finisher in just her second appearance at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Kreitinger used a late-race surge to move from the No. 9 spot in the field to the No. 5 spot with a final 400m split of 1:22.83.
The 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Championships will resume on Sunday morning. For the Maroon and Gold the first event in Bloomington will be the men's discus final that will begin at 10 a.m. CT. All events can be seen on B1G+ and live results can be followed on PTTiming.com.
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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