Gophers' Matthew Wilkinson wins second Big Ten title with victory in 5,000 meters

Matthew Wilkinson won his second conference title of the weekend Sunday in Bloomington, Ind., and the Gophers men's track and field team finished second at the Big Ten outdoor meet, the team's highest finish in 10 years.

The Gophers men won three more events Sunday to the two they won earlier in the competition and finished with 122 points, 29 behind champion Nebraska and two ahead of third-place Iowa. The Gophers women finished seventh out of 13 teams with 53 points; Michigan won with 139.

Wilkinson, who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday, added a 5,000-meter title Sunday, making him the first Gophers athlete to win both events at the Big Ten championships and the school's first 5,000 champion since Hassan Mead in 2009. Wilkinson's time of 13 minutes, 51.31 seconds was 3.63 seconds faster than second-place Max Murphy of Iowa.

Gophers senior Kion Benjamin won the 100-meter dash, finishing in the final at 10.18 seconds to edge Wisconsin's Lawrence Johnson (10.212) and Gophers teammate Carlon Hosten (10.219). And the 4x100 relay team of Hosten, Benjamin, Finn Schirmer and Devin Augustine broke a meet record to claim the Gophers' first Big Ten title in the event since 2002. Their time of 38.87 seconds is the fourth-fastest by any Big Ten team ever.

On the women's side, Amira Young broke three Gophers records in one day. She was part of a 4x100 relay team with Odell Frye, Lauren Hansen and Akilah Lewis that finished second in 43.83 seconds. Young also finished second in the 100 (11.19 seconds) and third in the 200 (23.09).

The Gophers' Nyalaam Jok finished second in the high jump at 5 feet, 11¼ inches.

Tournament MVP Sam Riola hit his 36th career home run to break the program's all-time mark and St. Cloud State beat Minnesota State Mankato 13-7 to win the NSIC tournament championship Sunday in Mandan, N.D.

Ryan Bachman, Jackson Hauge and Ryan Wickman hit solo homers in the ninth inning for the Mavericks (39-15).

• Augustana, MSU Mankato and St. Cloud State advanced to the NCAA Division II Central Regional. The other teams in the regional are host Central Missouri State, Missouri Southern, Ouachita Baptist, Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech.

The Lynx waived forwards Maya Dodson and Myah Selland , leaving their roster at 15. The team must get down to 12 players by Friday's WNBA season opener against Chicago.

Dodson was selected in the third round, 26th overall, in the 2022 WNBA draft by Phoenix. Selland is a former South Dakota state standout who signed a training camp contract with the Lynx last month.

The Gophers baseball team lost its rubber game at No. 19 Maryland, falling 15-9 to the Terrapins in the series finale.

Ike Mezzenga and Weber Neels hit home runs for the Gophers. Brett Bateman, Kyle Bork and Boston Merila each had two hits.

• In their final regatta of the season, the Gophers finished in seventh place at the 2023 Big Ten rowing championships in Indianapolis. The Gophers' first varsity eight boat finished in sixth in 6 minutes, 36 seconds.