Two Gophers are racing and throwing against the best professionals and collegians in the country this week at the USATF Outdoor Championships, held July 23-26 at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York — the first time the national meet has landed in New York City since 1991.
Matt Wilkinson is the headliner. The two-time Big Ten champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase transferred to Minnesota after starting his career at Carleton College, and he's spent this season turning into one of the country's top steeplechasers. His personal best of 8:09.56, set in May at a Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, stands among the fastest times run by an American this year, and he entered the championships as one of the clear favorites in the event after running four solid Diamond League races and not losing to an American all season.
Hadley Streit is making the trip off a breakthrough spring. The soon-to-be redshirt senior threw a personal-best 71.98 meters (236 feet, 2 inches) at the Tom Jones Memorial in April, a mark that ranked her among the top hammer throwers in the NCAA this season. She improved from a 15th-place finish a year ago to ninth at the NCAA West Regional to qualify for her first NCAA Outdoor Championships, and she picked up her first career Big Ten weekly honor along the way this season.
Streit qualified for the USATF field with the ninth-best entering mark, putting her in the mix against the country's deepest hammer throwers, while Wilkinson lines up in a steeplechase field that's expected to come down to him and the defending champion. Both are carrying Minnesota's colors into one of the sport's biggest weekends outside of an NCAA or Olympic year.