Redshirt sophomore Kostas Zaltos of the Gophers won the hammer throw for the second year in a row on Friday on the first day of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Minnesota's track.
Gophers hammer throw Kostas Zaltos wins event for second time in Big Ten meet
The redshirt sophomore from Greece threw the hammer 234 feet, 3 inches at his home stadium.
May 14, 2022 at 4:57AM
The native of Kilkis, Greece, threw the hammer 234 feet, 3 inches — more than 4 feet farther than runner-up Tyler Merkley of Penn State (229-11). Junior Jake Kubiatowicz of the Gophers was fifth (216-5).
On the women's side, Alexys Berger of the Gophers placed second in the pole vault. She and Chloe Timberg of Rutgers both cleared 14 feet, 1⁄2 inch, but Timberg won the event on one fewer miss.
Tess Keyzers of Minnesota was third in hammer throw (205-11).
Running Aces track to open Sunday
Running Aces harness track in Columbus will begin its 15th season of racing Sunday, starting a 56-day summer meet with an eight-race card.
The track will race Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with first post at 7 p.m. Track officials said purses this year will top $6 million, an increase of about $2 million over last year and the highest ever paid at Running Aces.
Horses will be coming from Florida, New York, New Jersey, California and western Canada, as well as Minnesota and other Midwestern states.
Season highlights include the $35,000 Steve Wiseman Memorial FFA Trot (June 26), the $50,000 Dan Patch FFA Pace (July 24) and the $35,000 Ron Banks Memorial FFA Mares Pace (Aug. 14). The season will end with the annual championship weekend on Sept. 17 and 18.
Sunday's races attracted 63 entries, including eight in a $16,500 open handicap trot, the evening's richest race. Admission and parking are free throughout the season.
RACHEL BLOUNT
Ex-U wrestler wins Bellator title
Former Gophers wrestler Logan Storley won the Bellator MMA interim welterweight title with a split decision victory over Michael Page at OVO Arena Wembley in London. Storley, a four-time All-America for the Gophers from 2012-15, improved to 14-1 with the victory over Page (20-2) in the main event at Bellator 281. The title bout was the first of Storley's MMA career.
RANDY JOHNSON
SCSU names hoops coach
Quincy Henderson was named the St. Cloud State men's basketball coach.
Henderson comes to St. Cloud after eight seasons as the associate head coach at West Texas A&M where he helped lead the Buffaloes to a 210-50 record, three conference titles, five conference tournament titles and six NCAA Division II tournament appearances.
He was a member of two national championship teams at Winona State as an athlete.
MSU Mankato wins
No. 19 Minnesota State Mankato beat St. Cloud State 9-2 in the NSIC baseball tournament in Brandon, S.D.
With the win, the Mavericks advance to the semifinal round. They will face top seed Augustana at 11 a.m. Saturday. The No. 11 Vikings beat Winona State 12-4, hitting six homers. Jordan Barth, a senior who played for Rocori High School, hit two of them.
Etc.
- Minnesota United will face Union Omaha of USL League One at 7 p.m. May 25 at Allianz Field in a round of 16 match of the U.S. Open Cup soccer tournament.
- Indiana scored six runs in the eighth inning to edge the Gophers baseball team 8-6 in Bloomington, Ind. Ronald Sweeny hit a three-run homer for the Gophers (14-32, 4-15 Big Ten). Richie Holetz went the first four innings for Minnesota, giving up two earned runs on two hits against the Hoosiers (23-26, 9-10).
- The Gophers had three ballplayers named to the 2022 CoSIDA academic all-district baseball team: junior infielder Drew Stahl, senior catcher Chase Stanke and redshirt senior third baseman Jack Kelly. ... Making a similar CoSIDA team in softball for Minnesota were two seniors, outfielder Natalie DenHartog and pitcher Autumn Pease.
- Minnesota Morris players Alex Baumann and Jacob Schaaf were named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's hitter and rookie of the week. The Cougars went 9-1 in a six-day span as Baumann, a senior who played for Mayer Lutheran, hit .537 (22-of-41) with six doubles, a triple, and two home runs, 19 RBI and 23 runs scored. Schaaf went 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA.
Basketball Across Minnesota: Aaliyah Crump, who committed to Texas, is spending her senior year at Montverde Academy in Florida on a team filled with Division I recruits.
