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Collin Matiza
Sports Editor
ZIMBABWEAN sprinter, Kundai Maguranyanga, opened his collegiate track and field outdoor season in the United States by chalking up two podium places.
He raced in the men’s 100 and 200m events, during the Texas Christian University Invitational meet, at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday.
Maguranyanga (22), who is one of four Zimbabwean athletes on athletics scholarships at Texas Christian University, opened his campaign in the 100m dash by clocking a good time of 10.50 seconds. He finished third behind Oklahoma’s Jackson Webb (10.29 seconds) and TJ Brock (Jnr) of TCU (10.41 seconds).
Maguranyanga went on to compete in his favourite sprint event — the 200m dash — and he didn’t disappoint as he settled for the same position, in 21.36 seconds.
According to reports from Fort Worth, Maguranyanga’s teammate at TCU and stand-out freshman, Robert Gregory (Jnr), clocked a 20.67, to win the men’s 200m event.
His mark ranks No. 1 in the United States entering the weekend.
In high school, Gregory (Jnr) posted a 20.65 in a -1.4 headwind at the 2020 AAU Junior Olympic Games, becoming the Under-17-18 men’s 200m champion.
And at the weekend, Gregory (Jnr) was on fire again in the 200m event, in which he beat Kennedy Harrison of Northwestern State (21.33) into second place, with Maguranyanga coming home in third place.
Maguranyanga must have been satisfied by his overall performances in both the 100 and 200m events after a disappointing outing in the indoor season in which he failed to make the TCU team for the NCAA Indoor Nationals.
The championships were held at Fayetteville, in Arkansas, the previous weekend.
His fellow Zimbabwean, star triple jumper Chengetayi “Du” Mapaya (22), who is also on an athletics scholarship at TCU, managed to qualify for this year’s NCAA Indoor Nationals.
He did extremely well by grabbing silver medal in his event.
The event saw Mapaya setting a personal best jump of 16.95m as he settled for second place behind Emmanuel Ihemeje of Oregon, who won the men’s triple jump competition with a good jump of 17.26 metres.
Mapaya’s mark (16.95m) broke Ndabezinhle Mdhlongwa’s Zimbabwe indoor triple jump record from 1998 (16.89m), as well as TCU’s school record.
Online Reporter