Trio Earns Year-End Big Ten Awards

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Oregon track and field team collected a handful of year-end Big Ten accolades Wednesday afternoon as announced by the league office. Wilma Nielsen was named the Big Ten Indoor Track Athlete of the Year while Liisa-Maria Lusti and Ben Smith swept the Freshman of the Year awards.

Conference honors are selected by the conference's head coaches.

Nielsen won two national titles at last weekend's NCAA Championships, successfully defending her title in the mile and anchoring the UO women to victory in the distance medley relay. She became the third woman in program history to win back-to-back NCAA Indoor titles in an event, joining Brianne Theisen-Eaton (pentathlon, 2010-12) and Raevyn Rogers (2016-17).

Nielsen teamed with Juliet Cherubet, Lakely Doht-Barron and Silan Ayyildiz for a time of 10:48.76, good for the first of four national titles for the women during the meet. Nielsen was the Big Ten runner-up in the mile behind Ayyildiz and posted a lifetime best of 4:21.04 at the BU Valentine Invitational, becoming the No. 2 performer in collegiate history.

Lusti was the NCAA champion in the pentathlon, scoring a season-high 4,498 points at the national meet and becoming the program's first winner in the event since Theisen. Her long jump of 6.63m/21-9 is the third-best measure ever in a collegiate pentathlon. Lusti began her postseason with a runner-up finish in the long jump and fourth-place effort in the pentathlon at the Big Ten Championships.

Smith was the Big Ten runner-up in the shot put and then finished fourth in his debut appearance at the NCAA Championships. On his third attempt at the national meet, Smith got the shot put out to a best of 20.37m/66-10 which also doubled as the first 20-meter throw of his collegiate career. He and teammate Kobe Lawrence (2^nd – 20.50m/67-3.25) accounted for 13 points for the UO men.

2026 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Awards
MEN
Track Athlete of the Year: Garrett Kaalund, USC
Field Athlete of the Year: Ryan Johnson, Iowa
Freshman of the Year: Ben Smith Oregon

WOMEN
Track Athlete of the Year: Wilma Nielsen, Oregon
Field Athlete of the Year: Axelina Johansson, Nebraska
Freshman of the Year: Liisa-Maria Lusti, Oregon

After the conference meet where the Ducks swept the team titles for a second-consecutive year, Jerry Schumacher was named the Big Ten Men's and Women's Coach of the Year.

The Men and Women of Oregon both finished as national runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Along with the efforts of Nielsen and Lusti, the Ducks also won individual NCAA titles with Aaliyah McCormick in the 60-meter hurdles and Peyton Bair in the heptathlon; both set UO records in the process.

Ticket packages for the Ducks' outdoor home schedule are currently on sale. The team is set to host the Oregon Team Invitational (April 18) and Oregon Twilight (May 8), along with the NCAA Championships in June.

The outdoor season gets going this weekend with members of the Oregon throws crew competing in the OSU PNW Invite in Corvallis, Ore. Additionally, Ayyildiz and Nielsen will join current Duck James Harding in representing their respective home countries at the 2026 World Indoor Championships (March 20-22) in Poland.

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