Balazs Wins Second Steeplechase Title

Saturday, May 16

Lincoln, NE

All Day

University of Oregon

Big Ten Outdoor Championships

Benjamin Balazs, Big Ten steeplechase champion (May 16, 2026)

Photo by: GoDucks.com

05/16/26 | Track and Field

The Men of Oregon lead the Big Ten team standings entering Sunday’s finals.

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Men of Oregon continue to lead the team standings at the 2026 Big Ten Outdoor Championships with 55 points after day two of the conference meet. Benjamin Balazs ran to a second-consecutive title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to highlight a trio of scoring events Saturday for the UO men.

On the women's side, the Ducks enter the final day of the Big Ten Championships in fifth place with 19 points. Oregon added a runner-up heptathlon finish from Liisa-Maria Lusti during Saturday's action.

Oregon will have 32 total scoring chances—14 men, 18 women—across 15 events on day three.

Balazs pulled away from Minnesota's Emmett Gerres over the final 400 meters, becoming the third UO man to win back-to-back conference titles in the steeplechase. He joins the short list already featuring Ken Moore (1965, '66) and Micah Davis (1998, '99). The win is the program's 17^th overall in the event.

On the strength of a lifetime best in the opening round, redshirt freshman Ben Smith tallied third-place points in the discus. The Wisconsin native put down the early marker with a toss of 58.63m/192-4 which held up for a bronze finish. Smith came into the day ranked eighth in the Big Ten in the discus. He had a previous best of 58.30 meters from the OSU PNW Invite in late March.

Smith and Oregon teammate Kobe Lawrence will take on the shot put Sunday afternoon.

Lusti completed her first collegiate heptathlon Saturday with a lifetime best of 5,917 points. With that score, she becomes the No. 3 performer in Oregon history and secures a top-10 tally in the NCAA this season. Lusti benefited from a personal best in the javelin with her 41.05m/134-8 in the second round.

Lusti pulled double duty on day two with the long jump which she competed in between the javelin and 800 meters. She finished just out of scoring position at ninth place.

Titouan Bizet, in his Big Ten Outdoor debut, grabbed a point in the long jump. He sat in 13^th place after two rounds but responded with a day's best of 7.48m/24-6.5 (-1.7) to move up the standings and earn a spot in the finals. That measure stood strong through the finals for eighth overall.

The Ducks combined to advance seven into Sunday's finals including five for the UO women. In the 100-meter hurdles, Aaliyah McCormick was the fastest-overall qualifier in a season's best 12.87. She will be joined in the final by teammate Micaela De Mello who clocked a season best of her own—13.02—which also moved her to fourth on the UO all-time list.

Kai Graves-Blanks, the Big Ten leader coming into the weekend, battled through a headwind (-2.1) with the fastest time of 13.49 out of the 110-meter hurdle heats.

The first two qualifiers of the day came from Lily Jones and Amirah Shaheed in the women's 100. Jones equaled her season's best of 11.45, just ahead of Shaheed (11.46). Jones is into a third conference final of her career.

PJ Ize-Iyamu was the second-fastest qualifier in the men's 100 meters. He won his heat in 10.07 to grab a lane in Sunday's final. That time is just off his season's best of 10.06 from the Desert Heat Classic. Ize-Iyamu is also into a third-career conference final in the event; he was the 2024 Pac-12 champion.

Already qualified in the 1500 meters, Wilma Nielsen added the 800 final to her Sunday schedule with a run of 2:03.30 which earned an on-time bid. There is one hour between those 1500 and 800 finals.

Oregon Schedule | Day Three
(all times PT)
8:10 a.m. – women's triple jump | Cassandra Atkins, Maleigha Canaday-Elliott, Sharifa Davronova
9:30 a.m. – men's triple jump | Tre Betts
10:34 a.m. – women's 4x100m relay
10:46 a.m. – men's 4x100m relay
10:58 a.m. – women's 1500 meters | Juliet Cherubet, Wilma Nielsen
11:00 a.m. – women's discus | Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka, Alicia Khunou
11:07 a.m. – men's 1500 meters | Elliott Cook, Simeon Birnbaum, Jeffery Rogers
11:18 a.m. – women's 100m hurdles | Micaela De Mello, Aaliyah McCormick
11:25 a.m. – men's 110m hurdles | Kai Graves-Blanks
11:30 a.m. – men's shot put | Kobe Lawrence, Ben Smith
11:45 a.m. – women's 100 meters | Lily Jones, Amirah Shaheed
11:52 a.m. – men's 100 meters | PJ Ize-Iyamu
11:58 a.m. – women's 800 meters | Wilma Nielsen
12:38 p.m. – women's 5,000 meters | Silan Ayyildiz, Diana Cherotich, Juliet Cherubet, Dalia Frias, Anika Thompson
12:56 p.m. – men's 5,000 meters | Simeon Birnbaum, Evan Bishop, Evan Burke, Tayson Echohawk, Luke Tewalt

Notable: Lakely Doht-Barron lowered her lifetime best to 52.69, finished ninth overall in the prelims of the 400 meters; was the first runner out of advancing to the final … with the exception of the beginning of the multis competition, Saturday's schedule was moved up approximately two hours with a potential for inclement weather later in the evening.

Up Next: Day three of the 2026 Big Ten Outdoor Championships starts at 8:10 a.m. PT with a trio of UO women—Lusti, Cassandra Atkins, Sharifa Davronova—in the triple jump. The Big Ten Network coverage starts at 12:30 p.m. PT with field event coverage continuing on B1G+ and RunnerSpace.

The Big Ten Championships mark the beginning of the Ducks' postseason which will culminate with the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships (June 10-13) at Hayward Field. All-session and single-day tickets for the NCAA Championships are currently on sale.

Saturday Results
Big Ten Championships – Day 2 | Lincoln, Neb.
MEN
100 Meters – prelims
2. PJ Ize-Iyamu – 10.07Q
31. Jaelon Barbarin – 10.76

400 Meters – prelims
35. Fuad Omer – 48.40

800 Meters – prelims
20. Elliott Cook – 1:49.64 (SB)
22. Bodey Lutes – 1:50.01
23. Ben Greene – 1:50.28
24. Will Heslam – 1:50.48

110m Hurdles – prelims
1. Kai Graves-Blanks – 13.49Q (-2.1)

3,000m Steeplechase
1. Benjamin Balazs – 8:49.02 [+10 points]

Long Jump
8. Titouan Bizet – 7.48m/24-6.5 (-1.7) [+1 point]

Discus
3. Ben Smith – 58.63m/192-4 (PB) [+6 points]

Decathlon, Day 2/Final
13. Aiden Carter – 6,114 points
               2. 110m Hurdles – 14.33 [932 points]
               --. Discus – NM
               --. Pole Vault – NH
               5. Javelin – 52.26m/171-5 (SB) [622]
               6. 1500 Meters – 5:05.02 (SB) [531]

WOMEN
100 Meters – prelims
7. Lily Jones – 11.45q (=SB)
9. Amirah Shaheed – 11.46q (-0.3)
14. Brazil Neal – 11.57

400 Meters – prelims
9. Lakely Doht-Barron – 52.69 (PB)

800 Meters – prelims
8. Wilma Nielsen – 2:03.30q
19. Ali Ince – 2:06.42 (SB)
25. Bahiya El Arfaoui – 2:08.52
28. Nicole Humphries – 2:10.56

100m Hurdles – prelims
1. Aaliyah McCormick – 12.87Q (SB)
3. Micaela De Mello – 13.02Q (-1.0) (SB, UO #4)
13. Annaleise Taylor – 13.94

3,000m Steeplechase
14. Kendall Martin – 10:45.80 (SB)

High Jump
T15. Toby Stolberg – 1.67m/5-5.75

Long Jump
9. Liisa-Maria Lusti – 6.16m/20-2.5
13. Cassandra Atkins – 6.02m/19-9 (-1.4)
21. Sharifa Davronova – 5.84m/19-2

Shot Put
11. Alicia Khunou – 16.08m/52-9.25

Heptathlon, Day 2/Final
2. Liisa-Maria Lusti – 5,917 points (PB, UO #3) [+8 points]
               2. Long Jump – 6.06m/19-10.75 [868 points]
               2. Javelin – 41.05m/134-8 (PB) [687]
               5. 800 Meters – 2:23.32 [779]

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