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Collin Matiza-Sports Editor
THREE Zimbabwean track and field athletes, Chengetayi “Du” Mapaya, Tinotenda Matiyenga and Kundai Maguranyanga, are once again the talk of the town at Texas Christian University.
The trio helped the college’s men’s track and field team to improve its ranking in the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s team rankings.
The TCU’s men’s track and field team has now jumped into the Top-25 of the USTFCCCA’s team rankings.
This follows a string of some outstanding performances by its athletes, who include triple jumper Mapaya (22) and sprinters Matiyenga (21) and Maguranyanga (22), in the recent outdoor events.
The USTFCCCA is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based professional association, representing men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coaches in the United States.
The organisation has about 8 000 members.
Ninety-four per cent of the National Collegiate Athletic Association track and field programmes are members of USTFCCCA.
And according to reports from Texas, TCU’s men’s track and field team entered the USTFCCCA’s team rankings at No. 21, in its third edition of the poll.
An outstanding weekend at the Texas A&M Team Invitational track and field meet at College Station in Texas propelled the Frogs into the national spotlight, headlined by Mapaya’s triple jump facility record.
The Frogs climbed eight spots from last week’s rankings.
Mapaya collected his second triple jump facility record this past Saturday.
The wind finally died down enough for Mapaya to record a wind-legal mark on his final attempt, and he took full advantage of it.
The Zimbabwean jumped 16.78m to break the EB Cushing Stadium Record.
Mapaya’s mark ranks fourth in the world and third in the NCAA entering the weekend.
His first facility record occurred at Texas Tech’s Sports Performance Centre during the indoor season where he leaped 16.85m, breaking the school record.
Matiyenga took the 200m in Waco, running a 20.66 for a new personal record that ranks 18th in the NCAA. Gregory (Jnr’s) top non wind-aided time (20.67) slots in at No. 19.
Last weekend, at College Station, Matiyenga recorded a 20.68 when coming fourth in the men’s 200m event.
The Zimbabwean sprinter also competed in the men’s 100m final and came second in a good time of 10.44 seconds.
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