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/ Men's Track & FieldWilkinson Named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships
5/19/2023 2:56:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
Wilkinson was the only male athlete to win two Big Ten titles last weekend.
MINNEAPOLIS -- For the first time since 2012 the Big Ten's Men's Track Athlete of the Championships is a Minnesota student-athlete with Matt Wilkinson earning the distinction Friday, the conference office announced.
Wilkinson was the only male student athlete to win two Big Ten titles at the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind., last weekend. The Greenwood, Minn., native is the first male to earn the award at the outdoor championships since Hassan Mead won the award in 2009 after the Gopher great won both the 5000m and the 10000m in Columbus, Ohio.
Completing the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m double at the Big Ten Championships, Wilkinson helped the Maroon and Gold finish second overall as a team ahead of Iowa and behind Nebraska. Wilkinson is the first Gopher to win both the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m events at the same Big Ten Championships and is the first Big Ten student-athlete to compete that double since Mason Ferlic from Michigan in 2016.
At the 2023 NCAA West Regional next week from May 24-27, in Sacramento, Calif., Wilkinson will compete in just the 3000m steeplechase, as he did in 2022. Wilkinson enters with the No. 2 time (8:29.35) in the NCAA only behind Duncan Hamilton (8:25.17) of Montana State who finished as the NCAA runner-up in the event last year.
Additionally the conference announced the 2023 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees with Marta Kogucki and Seth Eliason earning those spots for Minnesota. Kogucki competed in her first Big Ten Outdoor Championships this past weekend, running the 5000m, while Eliason completed his third and made his first 800m final in the process.
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.
Wilkinson was the only male student athlete to win two Big Ten titles at the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind., last weekend. The Greenwood, Minn., native is the first male to earn the award at the outdoor championships since Hassan Mead won the award in 2009 after the Gopher great won both the 5000m and the 10000m in Columbus, Ohio.
Completing the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m double at the Big Ten Championships, Wilkinson helped the Maroon and Gold finish second overall as a team ahead of Iowa and behind Nebraska. Wilkinson is the first Gopher to win both the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m events at the same Big Ten Championships and is the first Big Ten student-athlete to compete that double since Mason Ferlic from Michigan in 2016.
At the 2023 NCAA West Regional next week from May 24-27, in Sacramento, Calif., Wilkinson will compete in just the 3000m steeplechase, as he did in 2022. Wilkinson enters with the No. 2 time (8:29.35) in the NCAA only behind Duncan Hamilton (8:25.17) of Montana State who finished as the NCAA runner-up in the event last year.
Additionally the conference announced the 2023 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees with Marta Kogucki and Seth Eliason earning those spots for Minnesota. Kogucki competed in her first Big Ten Outdoor Championships this past weekend, running the 5000m, while Eliason completed his third and made his first 800m final in the process.
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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