How the Gophers men's track and field team open the season ranked No. 1, against all odds

The message came via group text, from one of Kion Benjamin's teammates. In the first national poll of the outdoor season, the Gophers men's track and field team was ranked … No. 1.

"It was a shock to me,'' Benjamin said. "We don't have an indoor team, and we have cold weather, but we have talent and ability. This shows what we're capable of.''

The Gophers cut men's indoor track in 2020, generating concerns that the outdoor program would suffer. This season, the team has shot out of the starting blocks, earning the No. 1 ranking for the first time ever. They are 12th in the current rankings.

Though the tardy spring forced them to train inside until this week, Devin Augustine (200 meters) and Michael Buchanan (110 hurdles) already have broken school records, and four athletes are ranked among the top 10 in their events. Matthew Wilkinson is No. 1 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kostas Zaltos ranks second in the hammer throw, Isaiah Schafer is sixth in shot put, and Benjamin is 10^th in the 100 meters.

The 100m sprinters, who rank second in the nation as a group, also broke the school record in the 4x100 relay at last weekend's Jim Click Shootout in Arizona.

Zaltos, a redshirt junior, said the Gophers were sad to lose the indoor program. But it also inspired them to show they could still excel during the outdoor season, and the early rankings have them aiming high.

"We're in a good spot to do some great things this season,'' said Zaltos, who has a top throw of 240 feet, 8 inches this spring. "People think of track and field as an individual sport, but we work as a team, and that's the key to our success. We want to prove to everybody we deserved that No. 1 ranking.''

Matt Bingle, director of the Gophers' track and field and cross country programs, said the men's team has adapted well to life without an indoor season. Athletes are allowed to compete unattached, as individuals not representing the school, so they still get a taste of competition.

Gophers men participated in about half a dozen indoor meets last winter, including four hosted by the women's indoor team. For Schafer, who came to the Gophers from Division II Davenport University, those competitions were valuable, even if he wasn't building toward a Big Ten or NCAA championship.

"I would go into every meet thinking, 'This meet matters,' '' said Schafer, last year's NCAA Division II champion in the indoor and outdoor shot put. "I might not be in a Minnesota jersey, but I can approach this in a competitive way, to make sure I'm geared up and ready to go for outdoors. As a squad, we worked to do that, as well.''

When the school dropped the men's indoor program, questions remained about how recruiting might be affected. Schafer said some family members and friends pointed out he would have fewer opportunities to compete if he joined the Gophers, but the coaching staff and top-notch training environment won him over.

In the past two years, the Gophers also brought in other highly regarded athletes, including Augustine, Wilkinson and Buchanan.

Benjamin said his main concern was that the Gophers lost roster spots when indoor track was cut. This year, 38 athletes are listed on the men's outdoor roster. According to records, 47 were on the outdoor roster in 2020-21, the final season of indoor track; in 2018, that number was 59.

The smaller group has pulled together. Last year, the team dealt with a rash of injuries, and younger athletes struggled to adapt to college-level training. The challenges made the Gophers stronger and more mature, Bingle said, priming the team for a significant leap forward.

"Everyone had a really tough fall, with injuries, rough days in practice, rough days in school,'' Zaltos said. "But we communicate well and built good relationships. And we were ready to work.''

A splendid start

With no travel or championships during the indoor season, athletes entered the outdoor schedule well-rested and eager to get going. The Gophers now start their outdoor season earlier than many other Midwestern schools, opening this year on March 4 — weeks before they actually could train outside.

Other standout performances this season have come from Zaltos, whose 240-8 throw is a lifetime best and ranks 12^th in the world this year; Schafer, who has thrown 64-11 ¼ to claim the fourth-best mark in Gophers shot put history; and Wilkinson, who leads the nation with a time of eight minutes, 29.35 seconds in the 3,000 steeplechase. Austin Parsons (javelin) and Jak Urlacher (pole vault) also have entered the top five in Gophers history in their events.

Bingle's goal is to keep the improvements coming. The Gophers have ambitions of a top-three finish at the Big Ten championships and staying within the top 20 in the national rankings.

He said the Gophers take special pride in being "the men from the North,'' and the No. 1 ranking was a big boost for the team and the state's track and field community. Benjamin relished it, too, at least for a little while.

"It was a nice moment,'' he said. "But that's not our end goal. It's time to get back to work.''