With temperatures rising in the Twin Cities, Minnesota’s women’s track and field plans to keep turning up the heat in the upcoming Big Ten Indoor Championships.
For senior hurdlers Dyandra Gray, Maja Maunsbach and Zariyah Black, the upcoming women’s Big Ten Track and Field Championships mean more this time.
“Going into our last Big Ten Championships is kind of scary, but it’s also fun and exciting,” Maunsbach said.
So much of hurdling is a mental battle, and Maunsbach said she is approaching the event with a “save the best for last” mentality.
Minnesota’s women’s track and field team ranks No. 32 in the NCAA and No. 7 in the Big Ten. A recent Event Squad list ranks the 60m hurdles crew as No. 6.
Maunsbach medaled in last year’s Big Ten Indoor Championships 60m hurdles final with a lifetime best time of 8.14 seconds, which placed her No. 3 all-time in school history.
To manage her nerves on race days, Maunsbach said she applies temporary tattoos to her face and paints her fingernails to remind herself to have fun.
“All I can do is go out there and do my best, and that’s a win regardless of the outcome,” Maunsbach said.
For Gray, the simple act of telling her teammates a joke before competing alleviates some nerves, but Gray also embraces the butterflies.
“There’s an amount of nervousness that helps us, so I like to get to that amount before I compete,” Gray said.
Gray’s last season ended with a 4x400m relay win at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with a time of 59.53 seconds. Gray emphasized previous accomplishments mean much less on championship race day.
“It doesn’t matter who’s leading in the standings,” Gray said. “It’s just who shows up on championship race day, and that could be us.”
Minnesota’s six Big Ten Indoor Championships all occurred under the guidance of head coach Matt Bingle. This year, Bingle’s theme for the team is a millionaire mindset.
“Our coach really stressed that only two percent of people are millionaires, and there’s only two percent of people that go Division I, so we’re different,” Black said. “No matter what comes, we’re ready.”
Black said her experience last year as an underdog at the Big Ten Indoor Championships never left her.
“We’re ready for a good fight, and we’re not going to give up easily,” Black said.
In 2024, Minnesota’s women’s track and field team finished fourth out of 13 teams at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute & Academy in Geneva, Ohio.
With a larger conference this year, Black said there is a greater emphasis on teamwork going into the championship weekend.
“Leaning into one another, making sure everyone does their job and keeping everyone accountable with the little things helps us to show up on race day,” Black said.
The Big Ten Indoor Championships run from Feb. 28 through March 1 at the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion in Indianapolis, Indiana. The women’s 60m hurdle kicks off at 9:10 a.m.
