Big Ten Reveals Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2026 Big Ten Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship award winners on Wednesday, as selected by the Conference’s head coaches. The championship meet was held last weekend at Nebraska Outdoor Track in Lincoln, Neb.  

USC's Eddie Nketia earned Men’s Track Athlete of the Championships accolades, while Nebraska's Dyson Wicker was selected as Field Athlete of the Championships and Ducks’ head coach Jerry Schumacher was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.  

Nketia, a junior, claimed both the 100m and 200m titles, and helped USC achieve fourth place in the 4x100m relays. In the 100m, Nketia dashed to a 9.74 time (+5.6w) and in the 200m, after finishing sixth in preliminaries, he recorded a 20.03 (+7.5w) to claim the dual title.  

Nebraska's Wicker bested the meet record in the pole vault directly in front of a home crowd. The sophomore, who won the 2026 Big Ten indoor pole vault title, cleared a mark of 5.72m (18-9 ¼). This mark beat the previous record set by Illinois’ Daren McDonough, which had stood since 1994.  

Schumacher claimed his second outdoor Coach of the Year honors after leading Oregon to its second Big Ten Outdoor Men’s championship. He also won back-to-back indoor Coach of the Year awards. Schumacher has won five out of six of the championships between men’s Cross Country, Indoor, and Outdoor Track and Field since the Ducks joined the Conference in 2024.  

The Big Ten Conference office recognizes one student-athlete from each team as Sportsmanship Award Honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the academic year. 

The Big Ten will announce Track Athlete of the Year, Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year following the conclusion of the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for June 10-13 in Eugene, Ore. 

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Honorees 
Men’s Coach of the Year 
Jerry Schumacher, ORE 

Men’s Track Athlete of the Championships 
Eddie Nketia, USC 

Men’s Field Athlete of the Championships 
Dyson Wicker, NEB 

Men’s Sportsmanship Honorees 
Zavien Wolfe, ILL          
John Colquitt, IND       
Ryan Schreiner, IOWA               
Roman Spikes, MD      
Jake Wall, MICH            
Moses Osterink, MSU                
Charles Godfred, MINN           
Michael Buchanan, NEB                         
Nazzio John, OSU         
Ben Greene, ORE         
Tristan McGarrah, PSU             
Seamus Malaski, PUR              
Daniel Duncan, RU        
Hamdi Ali, UCLA             
Mico Lampinen, USC                 
Tomeko Cates, WASH               
Jacob Schaefer, WIS