adminCollin Matiza
Sports Editor
TWO United States-based Zimbabwean athletes, Chengetayi “Du” Mapaya and Tinotenda Matiyenga, will once again come under the spotlight at the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The meet will be held at Randal Tyson Track Centre in Fayetteville, Arkansas, this weekend.
Star triple jumper Mapaya, and sprinter Matiyenga, will be part of a trio of athletes from Texas Christian University, who have qualified for this year’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships tomorrow and Saturday.
They will come up against some of the top track and field athletes from several American university colleges.
Mapaya and Matiyenga qualified for this weekend’s event together with fellow Texas Christian University athlete, Robert Gregory (Jnr), after producing some brilliant performances at the Big 12 indoor championship a couple of weeks ago.
According to reports from Texas, Mapaya, the 2021 Big 12 indoor triple jump champion, enters the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships as the No. 2 seed.
On his first jump of the Texas Tech Shootout (16.80m), the TCU senior broke the meet and facility record at Texas Tech’s Sports Performance Centre.
Nicknamed “Du Airlines” at TCU, Mapaya took off for 16.85m on his second attempt, achieving an NCAA-leading mark.
Mapaya’s jump ranks No. 11 in the world.
His mark set a new indoor personal best for the Zimbabwean. His previous best jump was 16.83m at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championships that set a TCU and Big 12 meet record.
The TCU senior also received votes on The Bowerman’s Mid-Indoor Watchlist.
In 2020, Mapaya was named to The Bowerman’s Preseason Watch List, becoming the third student athlete from TCU to appear on the watch list (Ronnie Baker, 2016) (Whitney Gipson, 2012). Charles Silmon was a semi-finalist for the award in 2013 but did not appear on a watch list — a distinction that is announced after the season is over.
The five-time All-American returned for his senior indoor campaign to defend his national title in the outdoor triple jump from 2019.
He also garnered a bronze medal at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships.
As a freshman in 2018, Mapaya reached the championship in the triple jump and finished third with a 16.38m jump.
Mapaya secured his national championship in the most dramatic fashion possible.
Going into his sixth and final jump of the night, Mapaya was in third place after a jump of 16.94m in his fifth attempt.
On the final jump of the competition, Mapaya leaped 17.13m, passing up event leader Jordan Scott of Virginia (17.01m) and winning the national championship.
It was TCU’s first national title in track and field since Ronnie Baker won the 60m dash in 2016.
Mapaya’s fellow Zimbabwean and teammate at Texas Christian University, Matiyenga, is no stranger to the national meet in the United States either.
He’s been a member of TCU’s 4×400 relay the past couple of years, earning three All-America selections (2019+2020 ITF, 2019 OTF).
The senior was also an All-American during the 2018 outdoor campaign as a member of the 4x100m squad.
Earlier this year, Matiyenga won the men’s 200m (20.75 seconds) at the Texas Tech Invitational and broke the Zimbabwe national indoor record for the event in the process. His time places him as the No. 12 seed at this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
At the Big 12 indoor championship he collected a bronze and silver medal between the 200m and 60m dash, respectively.
The TCU quartet of Blake Hennesay, Matiyenga, David Seete and Ethan Brown also acquired silver medals in the 4x400m relay.
Matiyenga’s record-breaking time led the way at the Texas Tech Invitational, but highly-touted freshman Gregory (20.78 seconds) finished closely behind in second place. He was unable to run at the conference championship and only logged one 200m the entire indoor season.
Gregory posted a 20.65 in a -1.4 headwind at the 2020 AAU Junior Olympic Games, becoming the 17-18M 200m champion.
This time improved his No. 1 mark for his recruiting class that he set at the RSS CO-19 Summer Series #3 (20.70).
He also ranked in the top-10 outdoor season nationally in the 100m (9th – 10.42) and 400m (7th — 47.59) in high school.
And all eyes will be on Mapaya, Matiyenga and Gregory when they represent TCU at this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Arkansas.
TCU have a tradition of national success during the indoor season.
Two years ago, the Horned Frogs left the NCAA meet with a third-place finisher, three First-Team All-America individuals and one Second-Team honour.
Three years ago, TCU left the NCAA meet with a third-place finisher, four total First-Team All-America honours, and three additional Second-Team honours.
The national meet in 2020 was canceled due to Covid-19.
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