Trio of Big Ten Athletes of the Week

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon track and field team collected a trio of Big Ten weekly awards as released by the conference office Wednesday afternoon. For a third time this outdoor season, Simeon Birnbaum is the Big Ten Men's Track Athlete of the Week. Bodey Lutes was named Men's Freshman of the Week while Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka earned Women's Field Athlete of the Week.

The Ducks will join the rest of the conference in Lincoln, Neb., this week for the Big Ten Championships which begin Friday and run through Sunday.

Birnbaum won the Wade Bell 800 meters at last Friday's Oregon Twilight with a lifetime best of 1:44.67, good for the fastest time in the Big Ten this season. He also moved to No. 3 in the NCAA, a third top-10 national mark for the Oregon junior. With his effort, Birnbaum became the fourth UO man to run a sub-1:45 outdoors.

The Rapid City, S.D., native also ranks first nationally at 1500 meters and seventh in the 5,000, followed by teammate Luke Tewalt in eighth.

Last week's 800 also represented the official UO debut for Lutes who responded with a time of 1:45.62 and a runner-up finish behind Birnbaum. Lutes' time boosted him into the top 15 in the NCAA this year, and currently stands as the No. 3 U20 time in the world this season. The Coos Bay, Ore., native had run 1:46.65 in an unattached outing in mid-April.

Bovele-Linaka unleashed a season best of 58.10m/190-7 to win the discus at the Oregon Twilight. With that throw, she took over the No. 2 spot in the Big Ten this season and moved to No. 12 in the NCAA. It also took her from seventh to fourth on the Oregon all-time list. Bovele-Linaka went into the meet with a previous season's best of 55.25m/181-3 from the Triton Invitational.

After the conference weekend, the top 48 regional qualifiers will take on the NCAA West First Round in Fayetteville, Ark., at the end of the month. The top 12 from each of the two regional sites will advance to the 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships (June 10-13) at Hayward Field.

All-sessions and single-day ticket packages for the NCAA Championships are currently on sale.

For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and X.

University of Oregon Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Simeon Birnbaum

Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka

Bodey Lutes

Luke Tewalt

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