Three Big Ten Athletes Capture Titles at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

OFFICIAL RESULTSAUSTIN, Texas -- Three female athletes from the Big Ten captured individual titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas.Michigan sophomore Savannah Sutherland placed first in the 400-meter hurdles while Nebraska crowned a pair of champions with sophomore Axelina Johansson in the shot put and junior Rhema Otabor in the javelin.Sutherland recorded a personal-best time of 54.45 as the only underclassmen in the final. She led wire-to-wire in recording the ninth-fastest time in the world this year. Sutherland also became Michigan's first NCAA champion since 2017, helping the Wolverines to a 14th-place finish.Johansson saved her best for last, reaching a distance of 63-3 1/4 (19.28m) on the last of her six throws with the title already won. She is the third female Husker to claim the NCAA shot put title.Otabor broke her school record in the javelin with a throw of 195-2 (59.49m). She is the second Nebraska female athlete to capture a javelin championship.Johansson and Otabor became the first Husker women to claim NCAA titles since 2006, leading Nebraska to an eighth-place showing, the highest finish for a Big Ten team at this year's event. Texas won the women's team championship.In addition to the first-place efforts, the Ohio State 4x400-meter relay team of Bryannia Murphy, Alyssa Marsh, Yanique Dayle and Jaydan Wood finished third with a time of 3:26.72.On the men's side, Wisconsin tied for 15th place, Nebraska shared 17th place and Minnesota finished 20th. Florida took home the team championship.Podium finishes for the Big Ten men included: Minnesota junior Kostas Zaltos in the hammer (2nd, 250-5/76.33m), Penn State freshman Handal Roban in the 800-meter run (3rd, 1:45.95), Wisconsin sophomore Adam Spencer in the 1,500-meter run (3rd, 3:42.98), Wisconsin junior Jackson Sharp in the 5,000-meter run (3rd, 14:06.77) and Iowa junior Austin West in the decathlon (3rd, 8,054 points).