He’s the first individual NCAA Champion for the Gophers since 2018
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s track and field team kicked off day one of the 2025 NCAA Track and Field Championship with a bang as 5th year senior Kostas Zaltos won the hammer throw with the 6th longest throw in NCAA history. Hos throw of 78.08 meters was a personal best and completed a climb Zaltos had made over his Gopher career.
Zaltos finally got over the hump in 2025 winning the NCAA Championship. The four-time Big Ten Champion in the hammer throw finished third at the NCAA Championships as a freshman in 2021, third in 2022, second in 2023, redshirted last season and finally won the event this season.
MANIFESTING SUCCESS 〽️
Kostas Zaltos’ #ncaaTF career finishes:
2021
2022
2023
2024 (redshirt)
2025 #SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/DlRrLRsfLB— Minnesota Cross Country, Track & Field (@GopherCCTF) June 11, 2025
The celebration is ON!
Kostas Zaltos is the first #Gophers NCAA Outdoor Champion since 2018 and just the third outdoor champ since 1971! #ncaaTF | #SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/00mlQ6N94m
— Minnesota Cross Country, Track & Field (@GopherCCTF) June 11, 2025
He becomes the first Gopher to win an NCAA individual track and Field Championship since Obsa Ali won the 3000 meter Steeplechase for the men and Kaitlin Long won the hammer throw for the women in 2018.
Minnesota sophomore and fellow Greek national Angelos Mantzouranis would finish in second place behind Zaltos with a throw of 76.96 meters improving on his third place finish in 2024. They both earned First Team All-American honors.
SKI-U-MAH@GopherCCTF teammates Kostas Zaltos and Angelos Mantzouranis go 1-2 in the hammer throw at the 2025 @NCAATrackField DI Outdoor Championships. They’re the first teammates to finish first and second since @HokiesTFXC did it back in 2011.
— USTFCCCA (@USTFCCCA) June 11, 2025
Besides the success in the hammer throw it was a great day for the Gophers. Minnesota would add a fourth place finish in the long jump as sophomore Charles Godfred would leap 7.91 meters in his third attempt.
ICE IN HIS NIGERIAN VEINS Charles Godfred earns himself a spot in the NCAA long jump final with a third-round 7.91m (25-11 1/2)! 〽️ #ncaaTF https://t.co/WuW9Klj68V pic.twitter.com/l12pAJzRxN
— Minnesota Cross Country, Track & Field (@GopherCCTF) June 12, 2025
Jak Urlacher would finish 12th in the pole vault, and Christian martin would finish 17th in the 110 meter hurdles.
Those results would give the Gophers 23 points through the first six events of the competition and take the Day 1 lead in the team standings. Minnesota only has two entries in Friday’s 15 other finals, but both have very good chances of adding points to the Gophers score.
Minnesota’s 4×100 relay team would advance to Friday’s final by placing in second place in their head in Wednesday’s prelims. The Gopher quartet of Zion Campbell, Kion Benjamin, Aaron Charles and Devin Augustine ran a school record time of 38.16 seconds which was the fourth fastest time on Wednesday. They are now the first ever Minnesota 4×100 relay team to qualify for the finals.
Hakeem Ford will also compete in Friday’s triple jump final. He comes in with the second best jump in the nation this season. If both entries can earn top finishes, it could help the Gopher men to their best finish since an 8th place finish in 1971. The Gophers won the 1948 NCAA Team Championships.
The Gopher women hit the track on Thursday with Dyandra Gray running in the 400 meter hurdles semifinals and Ali Weimer in the 10,000 meters final.