Oregon sophomore Benjamin Balazs crosses the finish line to win the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:40.93, earning 10 points for the Men of Oregon to lead the team standings after Day Two of the 2025 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Photo by Rian Yamasaki.

By Owen Murray, TrackTownUSA

Results

The second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships focused on the latter, as the conference crowned nine national champions across five field events, the decathlon, heptathlon, and men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase — and provided opportunities for new schools to jump into overall leads.

The Men of Oregon took the team lead from the University of Nebraska after Benjamin Balazs won the day’s final event, the men’s steeplechase, and totaled 65 points. The University of Illinois women, meanwhile, took advantage of a second-overall finish in the heptathlon and a meet-record mark in the women’s long jump to pass the University of Minnesota and lead with 41 points. The Women of Oregon sit fourth, with 25 points.

University of Minnesota sophomore Charles Godfred won the long jump with an 8.05m / 26 - 5 effort on his second attempt ahead of Ohio State University jumper DJ Fillmore. Fillmore, who jumped a personal-best 7.68m (25 -2 ½), fouled on four of his six attempts.

After Godfred’s first jump — one that negated a stunning jump with a red flag— he “almost cried” on the way back. The 2024 Big Ten champion in the event, though, gathered himself.

“I’ve been (practicing) it back home, and when I walked back to my coach, he just said, ‘Charles, you just need to go back a little bit. Just do what you always do back home’ — I know what I’m capable of doing.”

He’s now the back-to-back Big Ten champion in the event as just a sophomore.

Oregon freshman Koby Kessler, who led the decathlon through five events on Friday, tapered off and placed seventh in the 110m hurdles (15.15 seconds), 10th in the pole vault (4.00m / 13 - 1 ½), 11th in the discus throw (33.61m / 110 - 3 PB), seventh in the javelin (44.42m / 145 - 9 PB) and second in the 1500m race (4.23.93). The effort, though, was still good enough for a fourth-place finish and personal-best 7303 points.

“It’s not my best day two, but that was everything I had,” Kessler said. “I’m not sad about it. I’m not mad about it. I left nothing in the tank, so there’s nothing to be regretful about.”

“Oregon has always been a beautiful place to compete.”

- University of Illinois junior Rafael Rapp following his win in the decathlon with 7,572 points

Former Duck Rafael Raap, who transferred from Oregon to the University of Illinois after the 2024 season, won the decathlon discus throw 45.42m (149 - 0), pole vault (4.70m / 15 - 5) and javelin 59.57m (195 - 5 SB). He finished tenth in the 1500m race and eighth in the 110m hurdles (15.20 seconds) — enough to claim first place ahead of University of Washington senior Jami Schlueter.

“Oregon has always been a beautiful place to compete,” Raap said. “Even though I’m wearing new colors right now, it’s always a magical place for me to be. It feels like coming home.”

Ducks senior Annika Williams, who also led her multi after day one, held her advantage through the long jump 6.00m (19 - 8 ¾) and the javelin throw 41.45m (136 - 0) — she placed third in both events.

Oregon senior Annika Williams won the heptathlon–her first time competing in the event since last June–with a personal best 5,914 points. Photo by Rian Yamasaki.

Williams completed the heptathlon with a 2.26.75-second 800m race — good enough for a personal-best 5914-point total and the heptathlon win. She remains third in Oregon history in the event, and fourth nationally so far in 2025.

“I told myself, ‘You’ve been in this position before,’” Williams said. “‘You always go into day two either in the lead or second, and anything can happen to anyone going into day two — especially recovery-wise.’”

Her recovery process after she left the track on Friday night? A flush, cold tub, dinner…and a few episodes of “Bridgerton”.

She didn’t hit her goal in every event, she said, but overcoming that is part of her mentality.

“This is my sixth year,” Williams said. “I’ve built up the confidence to just know that this isn’t it (when I don’t hit a goal). In the past, you probably would’ve seen me on the sidelines crying.”

This year, instead, she was on top of the podium.

Illinois freshman Lucie Kienast finished second overall in the heptathlon, just 63 points behind Williams, and 94 points ahead of third-place UCLA senior Sydney Johnson; 11 of the 20 athletes in the field set personal-best marks.

University of Nebraska senior Tyus Wilson took the men’s high jump crown out of a final field of four athletes — he cleared every height, including the final 2.17m (7 - 1 ½) bar, on his first attempts.

“I think that my mentality today was just to go out and have fun,” Wilson said. “It’s my last Big Ten meet ever. Some people would say they have a target on their back, but once you do that, you start putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.”

The field didn’t push Wilson to his limit — he was still 12 centimeters short of his personal-best when he won. It didn’t matter, he said.

“I don’t want to put a target on myself,” Wilson said. “I just want to go out there and jump freely.”

Wisconsin senior Jason Swarens already knew he’d secured the men’s shot put title before he stepped into the ring for his final throw. That didn’t matter — he had even more in the tank: a 20.53m throw that bettered his previous top mark by 0.49m.

Wisconsin senior Jason Swarens won the men’s shot put with a throw of 20.53 meters, earning 10 points for the Badgers. Photo by Rian Yamasaki.

“I was in the mindset that I was going to need one that was further,” Swarens said. “I kept that mindset, got in the ring, got the crowd involved, used that energy and launched one out there.”

He knew it was good once it left his hand. He saw the mark once he looked up.

“From there, it was just pure energy,” he said.

The day’s only meet record was set in the women’s long jump, where Illinois senior Tacoria Humphrey jumped 6.59m (21 - 7 ½) on her second attempt. The mark surpassed Iowa athlete Jahisha Thomas’ 2018 record, which stood at 6.55m (21 - 6).

“I came in pretty confident — I put out some pretty big jumps earlier in the season, so I kind of did come in expecting to get first place or to medal,” Humphrey said.

Women’s shot put winner Anthonett Nabwe led for much of the women’s discus throw, but Nebraska senior Kalynn Meyer surged into pole position with her final, 59.29m (191 - 3 PB) throw.

Benjamin Balazs and Sergio Del Barrio thrust Oregon into an end-of-day lead with first-and-third place finishes, respectively, in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Balazs, who ran 8:40.93, is a sophomore at Oregon; Del Barrio is a freshman.

“I was so happy — it’s a close team battle right now, I know,” Balazs said of the Ducks’ 16-point haul in the event. “We knew we could do it…I finished the race, and I was super happy, and then I turned around and there’s Sergio kicking in for third. It’s a great result.”

Balazs, though, didn’t finish last year’s conference-championship steeplechase (the Pac-12 meet, hosted in Boulder, Colorado).

“I had a chip on my shoulder,” Balazs said. “I had to prove a lot of things (today), and I feel like I did it. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Michigan State University senior Katelyn Stewart-Barnett secured a 9:42.78 win in the women’s steeplechase — but only after she passed leader Washington senior Maggie Leibich, who stumbled over the final water obstacle but still ran a personal-best 9:48.84 time.

“My race plan was just to go to the front, and run a pace where I felt confident and calm, and ready to compete that last kilometer,” Stewart-Barnett said. “I’d say it executed pretty well — a little more stress on me than I anticipated with Washington there, but I was ready to move on the last lap.”

Competition concludes tomorrow at Hayward Field with the women's javelin, jumps and track event finals, and the team trophy presentation.