Zimbabwe: Athletes Qualify for NCAA Champs

Sports Editor

TWO Zimbabwean athletes — Chengetayi “Du” Mapaya and Tinotenda Matiyenga — have qualified for this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the United States.

They posted some good results, during the preliminary rounds, over the weekend.

The 2021 NCAA Championships will be held from June 9-12, at Hayward Field, in Eugene, Oregon. And Zimbabwe’s star triple jumper Mapaya and sprinter Matiyenga, who are both on athletics scholarships at Texas Christian University, booked their tickets to Eugene for a chance at a national title in the United States.

The 2019 outdoor national champion Mapaya took one jump, at the regional meet, leaping 16.50m and placing third overall.

Mapaya will defend his outdoor triple jump crown on June 11.

He was also the national runner-up during this year’s indoor season in the United States.

Fellow Zimbabwean Matiyenga set lifetime bests, in both the men’s 100m, and 200m events. In the first round of the 100m event, he clocked 10.19 seconds, and followed it up with 10.21s, in the quarter-finals, to advance to the NCAA Championships.

In the quarter-finals, of the 200m event, Matiyenga ran a 20.59, taking the first non-automatic qualifying spot. Matiyenga and Mapaya were part of four individuals, from the TCU, who booked their ticket to Eugene, where they will be be joined by two relay teams, from their college.