The Gophers walked away with 10 medals between the men and women, sending 39 athletes to the NCAA West Regionals. The men’s team tied with Wisconsin, both earning 81 points.

The men’s track and field team jumped around the top ten of NCAA national rankings all season. They peaked at number two in early April, but at the time of the meet were ranked sixth.

Day 1 of the championships ended with the Gophers leading in points. The men had 4 events: hammer throw, pole vault, javelin and the 10,000-meter run. 

The men’s Gophers took home first and second in the hammer throw, as well as second in the pole vault. 

Senior Jak Urlacher earned the silver medal with the best pole vault performance by a Minnesota pole vaulter in 28 years, moving him to No. 2 in Gophers history.

The meet was Urlacher’s last Big Ten Championship, but when asked about the pressure of performing well in his final year, he said he was not worried about it.

“I like pressure, personally,” Urlacher said. “I typically jump better at championship meets, the goal for me is just to go out and put together my best meet, and be able to jump what I’m capable of.”

On Day 2, the men competed in the long jump, high jump, decathlon, shot put and 3000-meter steeplechase. 

The standout performance for the Gophers was sophomore Charles Godfred.

Godfred’s first jump attempt was ruled illegal but the jump, he said, would have likely beaten the meet record.

“I knew I was supposed to do that for my first jump,” Godfred said. “I was shocked when they raised the flag. I was just a pinch away. I think the jump was about 8.20 something.”

The meet record is 8.13 meters, set in 1935 by Jesse Owens. Godfred broke that record at other meets, but has yet to do it at the Big Ten Championships. 

Godfred came in first for the second year in a row, despite not using all of his jump attempts. He said he chose not to use them due to injury risk. 

“Due to the rain and bad weather, the board was a bit slippery and I didn’t want to take the risk,” Godfred said.

The rest of the track events were done on the final day of competition. The final meet record for the Gophers came from the men’s 4×100 meter relay team.

The team consisted of juniors Zion Campbell and Aaron Charles, senior Devin Augustine, and graduate student Kion Benjamin broke their own meet record they set in 2023.

Benjamin spoke about his expectations for the meet, especially because this is his final year with the Gophers.

“We came into the meet having the meet record already. So, the goal was to break the meet record on Hayward Field,” Benjamin said. “We had one job, and that was to come home with the gold medal. I just wanted to leave (my teammates) with a bang. I think that’s exactly what we did.”

Augustine put up the most individual points for the men, with 18. Augustine competed in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4×100 meter relay. He placed third in the 200-meter and seventh in the 100-meter.

Senior hammer thrower, Kostas Zaltos, was also awarded the Big Ten Men’s Field Athlete of the Championships.  

The Gophers had six athletes on the men’s All-Big Ten First Team, the most in the Big Ten.

High-school track star Alexa Anderson decided to step down — off the championship podium — for what she believes, when faced with the prospect of sharing the honor with a transgender competitor.

“I knew that something needs to be done to bring attention to this issue and to let the people who are in charge know that us athletes are not okay with the position they put us in,” the 18-year-old told The Post.

On Saturday, Anderson, a senior competing for Tigard High School, took third place in the Oregon State Athletic Association’s Girls High Jump Final while Lia Rose, a transgender athlete from Ida B. Wells High School took fifth.

Anderson jumped 5 feet 4.25 inches, compared to Rose’s 5 feet 1.65 inches.

When the top eight jumpers took the podium, Anderson and fourth-place runner Reese Eckard, a senior from Sherwood High School, stepped down in unison and turned their backs in protest.

“I was definitely stressed just with all those eyes on you, kind of looking at you wondering what you’re doing and why,” Anderson said. “But all female athletes, no matter if they are in elementary school, middle school or high school … I want them to have a fair and equal opportunity to compete.”

Going into the meet, Anderson knew that she wouldn’t stand on the podium if Rose, who had competed in the boy’s division in 2023 and 2024, placed.

She and Eckart, who had been a “friendly competitor” for the past four years, had already made a pact to step down together.

She claims several other girls who made the podium had also intended to join, but backed down in the moment: “It’s a very controversial topic, and I think some people are more inclined to express their concerns privately.”

The crowd at Hayward Field reacted with silence, and an official confronted the pair. When they said they weren’t participating, the official told them to step aside and get out of the way of photos.

Even though she and Eckart were the only ones to take a public stand, she says Rose’s presence in the sport had caused upset among her teammates throughout the season.

“The overall sentiment was kind of confused and concerned for the integrity of our sport,” she explained. “Girls I talked to were worried that their opportunities were going to be taken away, or that they wouldn’t make it to the championship because there was a biological man that was jumping better than them.”

Since the incident, there’s been an outpouring of private support, and Anderson reports receiving “a lot of kind messages from people thanking me for standing up for what I believe in.” There have also been people who were less than kind.

“Some people are definitely coming at me with a hateful attitude,” she admitted. “There are people at school that are offended and are talking behind my back, but I expected that going into this, when I put myself out there on such a controversial topic.”

Anderson, who joined the track team as a freshman, is graduating Thursday and plans to attend the University of South Alabama, where she will study exercise science and marine biology and is committed to run track and field. 

She said she supports a federal mandate banning trans athletes from female sports. President Trump enacted one in February via Title IX, but states including Oregon have continued to allow athletes to compete nonetheless.

“Title IX was originally used to ban sex-based discrimination in sports, and now we’re facing sex-based discrimination again,” Anderson said. “Biological women are being forced to compete with biological men, but the purpose of Title IX was to make sure that it didn’t happen, that biological women had their equal opportunities.”

Anderson is legally represented by American First Policy Institute.

A staff member told The Post they called on the federal government to investigate possible Title IX violations related to Saturday’s race and are considering further litigation.

“I have been an athlete my whole life, and women’s sports has done so much for me personally,” she said. “By allowing biological men to compete in the women’s division, we’re taking away opportunities from other young girls who have worked so hard to get to where they are.”

LA JOLLA, Calif. — As the 2024-25 athletic year has come to an end, Triton scholar-athletes were celebrated and recognized for their excellence by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics on Thursday evening. The 2025 Triton Awards took place at LionTree Arena on the UC San Diego campus.

Tritons scholar-athletes were recognized for their achievements during the 2024-25 academic year in athletic competitions, the classroom and serving their community.

“What an extraordinary journey we have shared together this year,” UC San Diego Director of Athletics Earl W. Edwards said. “Tonight, we celebrate not just a year of outstanding accomplishments, but also a milestone in the UC San Diego fairy-tale story that continues to define who we are. When we began our transition from Division II to Division I, we knew it would not be easy. But we also knew that with a focus on our values—excellence, integrity, inclusion, innovation and resilience—that the UC San Diego tide would rise to meet the challenge. This year, I can say with full confidence, we did just that. Time and time again, you showed the nation why the Triton name stands for excellence.”

The event also served as a celebration of UC San Diego’s first season as full Division I members, which included the ability to participate in the postseason for the first time. Four Triton teams captured conference championships this year: Men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s fencing and women’s fencing.

In total, 96 UC San Diego scholar-athletes rose above the pack to earn All-Conference honors across The Big West, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Coastal Athletic Association. Nine scholar-athletes were also recognized for performing at the highest level of their sports, earning All-American honors.

UC San Diego’s All-Americans from the 2024-25 season were:

The Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete award highlighted Matthew Dalquist (baseball) and Kyra Wu (women’s fencing) for their academic and athletic successes this past season. Athlete of the Year awards went to Chloe Braun (women’s swimming), Julia Haynes (women’s tennis) and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (men’s basketball) in honor of their outstanding performances in their respective sports during the 2024-25 athletic year.

Here are the 2025 Triton Awards honorees:

Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athletes
Matthew Dalquist, Baseball
Kyra Wu, Women’s Fencing
 
Athletes of the Year
Chloe Braun, Women’s Swimming
Julia Haynes, Women’s Tennis
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Men’s Basketball
 
All-Triton Team
Landon Akerstrom, Men’s Water Polo
Tamara Aimufia, Women’s Track & Field
Chloe Braun, Women’s Swimming
India Caldwell, Softball
Anthony Cherfan, Men’s Volleyball
Caroline Christl, Women’s Water Polo
Michael Crossland, Baseball
Anthony Flowers, Men’s Track & Field
Hayden Gray, Men’s Basketball
Julia Haynes, Women’s Tennis
Katherine Kim, Women’s Fencing
Emily McDaniel, Women’s Volleyball
Tyler McGhie, Men’s Basketball
Sylvana Northrop, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field
Sumayah Sugapong, Women’s Basketball
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Men’s Basketball
 
Excellence in Coaching
Juan Ignacio Calderon, Fencing
 
Mark Appelbaum Academic Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
Brendon Fezzey, Men’s Water Polo
 
All-Triton Academic Team
Natalie Abel, Women’s Soccer
Cincy Chen, Women’s Tennis
Lucia Doak, Women’s Water Polo
Sam Hasegawa, Baseball
Eamon Hennessey, Men’s Water Polo
Ryan Kirton, Men’s Swimming
Emily McDaniel, Women’s Volleyball
Lauren Schiele, Women’s Track & Field
Kyra Wu, Women’s Fencing
 
Leon T. Roach Spirit Award
Fencing
 
Karen E. Reis Memorial Award
Alexa DeMarse, Softball
 
Triton Changemaker for Inclusion Award
Lauren Schiele, Women’s Track & Field
 
Team GPA Award
Women’s Tennis
 
Meritorious Service Award
Earl W. Edwards, Director of Athletics
 
Retirement Award
Brad Kreutzkamp, Women’s Water Polo Head Coach
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 93 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.