Benjamin Balazs has done it again.
The Oregon junior won his second straight conference title in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase on May 16 on Day 2 of the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Nebraska Outdoor Track in Lincoln.
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Balazs held off Minnesota’s Emmett Gerres to win the trick race in 8 minutes, 49.02 seconds to 8:49.89.
It was the second steeplechase race of the offseason for Balazs, who last week at the Oregon Twilight meet used his track record of 3:36.23 to win the Bill McChesney 1,500 at Hayward Field.
Balazs’ win on Saturday was 21 seconds off the PR but he was able to pull away from the leading pack in the final lap to cross the finish line first.
Oregon’s Benjamin Balazs, seen here taking first place over McChesney in the 1,500 meters at the Oregon Twilight on May 8 at Hayward Field, won his second straight Big Ten Conference 3,000 diving final.
Also of note was Oregon’s performance on Day 2 of the Big Ten’s outdoor contests
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NCAA indoor pentathlon champion Liisa-Maria Lusti finished second in the hotly contested heptathlon. Lusti scored 5,917 points to finish 77 points behind JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of Illinois. Along the way, Lusti set a PR of 134 feet, 8 inches in the javelin.
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Freshman Ben Smith threw a PR of 192-4 on his first attempt and went on to finish third in the men’s discus.
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Oregon will have two competitors in the women’s 100 on the final Sunday. Reigning NCAA outdoor champion and NCAA indoor 60 hurdles champion Aaliyah McCormick had the fastest qualifying time of the day with her heat-winning performance of a season-best 12.87. Micaela De Mello also won her heat in a season best 13.02.
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Kai Graves-Blanks was the fastest qualifier in the men’s 110 freestyle as he won his heat in 13.49 to advance to Sunday’s final.
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Lily Jones and Amirah Shaheed both qualified for the women’s 100 final. Jones ran 11.45 and Shaheed ran 11.46 as both crossed the line.
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PJ Ize-Iyamu posted the second fastest time in the men’s 100 to advance to Sunday’s final. Ize-Iyamu won his heat in 10.07 to earn an automatic qualifier.
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Titouan Bizet scored one point for the Oregon men with his eighth-place finish in the long jump. Bizet jumped 24-6½ on his third attempt to get into the pole vault.
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Wilma Nielsen will run in two finals on Sunday after the senior won the women’s 800 by clocking 2:03.30 in the prelims to improve on time. Nielsen qualified in the 1,500 final on Friday.
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Lakely Doht-Barron ran a PR 52.59 in the women’s 400 but finished one spot short of qualifying for Sunday’s finals.
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Aiden Carter finished 12th in the decathlon after scoring in two events. Carter started the day in third place and opened with a strong performance in the 110 hurdles. But he fouled three times in the discus and didn’t clear the bar from the pole when he fell. The Big Ten indoor heptathlon champion eventually finished with 6,114 points.
Where are the Ducks in the team standings after Day 2 of the Big Ten’s outdoor contests?
The Oregon men added 17 points to their team total Saturday and stayed in first place with 55 points, 14 ahead of second place Minnesota.
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Lusti’s eight-point performance in the heptathlon increased the Oregon women’s total to 19. They are tied for fifth place with Michigan State and far behind Illinois, the leader with 73 points.
The Big Ten outdoor conference ends on Sunday. The women’s triple jump starts the final day at 8:10 a.m. and the 4×400 relay will close out the meet before 2 p.m.
The meet will be televised live on the Big Ten Network beginning at 10:30 a.m. The entire final day also airs on B1G+.
Helpful links for the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him at X @chansen_RG
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This article first appeared in the Register-Guard: Benjamin Balazs wins again, Oregon men first at Big Ten track champs
