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

Rosemont, ILL. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2025 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 the historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 

Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum earned Men’s Track Athlete of the Championships accolades, while Minnesota's Kostas Zaltos was selected as Field Athlete of the Championships and Ducks’ head coach Jerry Schumacher was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. 

Birnbaum became the first Oregon men’s athlete to earn the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships in program history by setting a new meet record in the 5,000m by almost 10 seconds. His time of 13:31.87 takes place of the record set by Wisconsin’s Mohammed Ahmed which stood for almost 12 years.  
 
To win Field Athlete of the Championships, Zaltos surpassed the previous meet record in hammer throw. His mark of 77.67m (254-10) beat teammate Angelos Mantzouranis’ 2024 record by over two meters. 

Schumacher claimed the Big Ten Outdoor Coach of the Year award after leading the Oregon men to a Big Ten outdoor title in the program’s first year in the conference. The Ducks’ men completed the season sweep, also winning the Big Ten indoor title, where Schumacher was named Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year. 

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 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Honorees 

Track Athlete of the Championships 
Simeon Birnbaum, ORE 

Field Athlete of the Championships 
Kostas Zaltos, MINN 

Coach of the Year 
Jerry Schumacher, ORE 

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Sportsmanship Honorees 
Will Rezny, ILL 
Trelee Banks, IND 
Drake Woody, IOWA 
Eric Albright, MD 
Nolan Clark, MICH 
Josh DeVries, MSU 
Joseph Manser, MINN 
Cade Moran, NEB 
Eddie Udo, OSU 
Koby Kessler, ORE 
Allon Clay, PSU 
Logan Sandin, PUR 
Nico Morales, RU 
Michael Pickney, UCLA 
Garrett Kaalund, USC 
Evan Jenkins, WASH 
Elliot Harris, WIS