Big Ten Announces Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Postseason Honors

The Big Ten Conference announced the 2025 Big Ten Men’s Outdoor Track and Field postseason individual award recipients on Wednesday, as selected by the conference’s head coaches. The NCAA championship meet was held last weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 

Washington’s Nathan Green won Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, while Minnesota’s Kostas Zaltos was tabbed as Field Athlete of the Year and Michigan’s Brendan Herger was selected as Freshman of the Year. 
 
Green won the 1500 meters with a time of 3:47.26, marking the second time he won the event in his career. He last won in 2023, and this marks the fourth straight year a Washington runner has captured the 1500 meters title. Green trailed the final 100 meters but had a strong final kick to beat Wisconsin’s Adam Spencer on the final turn.  

Graduate student Kostas Zaltos became the first NCAA Champion for Minnesota since 2018 after winning the hammer throw competition. He won with a lifetime best throw of 78.08m (256-2) and beat teammate Angelos Mantzouranis, who earned silver.  

Another competitor in the 1500 meters, Herger finished with a time of 3:47.88, good for 9^th overall in a stacked field that included Green, Spencer and teammate Trent McFarland, who finished 11^th overall. The group had a close overall finish, and Herger only finished .62 seconds behind first place finisher Green, the first place finisher.  

Earlier this month, the Big Ten announced the award recipients for Track Athlete of the Championships, Field Athlete of the Championships and Coach of the Year, as well as the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees.