TCU Earns Four Entries to NCAA Indoor Championship
2/26/2019 10:22:00 PM | Men's Indoor Track, Women's Indoor Track
FORT WORTH, Texas – TCU track and field will have four entries in the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 8-9. Big 12 champions Chengetayi Mapaya (triple jump) and Destiny Longmire (long jump), as well as All-American Derrick Mokaleng (400m) and the 4x400 relay team of Darrion Flowers, Tinotenda Matiyenga, Emmanuel Ogwo, and Mokaleng will represent TCU at the national meet.
CHENGETAYI MAPAYA: Triple Jump
Despite being only a sophomore, Mapaya is no stranger to the national stage. As a freshman in 2018, Mapaya reached the NCAA Indoor championships in the triple jump and finished third with a 16.38m (53-9) jump. The indoor national meet was only Mapaya's third competition as a Horned Frog. In the outdoor season, he qualified for the national meet where he finished fifth and earned First-Team All-America honors. So far in 2019, Mapaya has broken and extended the TCU triple jump record, won the Big 12 title, and ranked no lower than sixth nationally. His conference winning jump of 16.83m (55-2.75) earned him the third seed at the national championships.
DESTINY LONGMIRE: Long Jump
In only her first season as a Horned Frog, Longmire has made a tremendous impact for TCU. The San Jose State-transfer brought national championship experience to TCU, earning Second-Team All-America status in the long jump at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor championships. At last weekend's Big 12 Indoor Championship, Longmire jumped a personal-best 6.39m (20-11.75), which earned her the conference title and moved her up to No.5 on the TFRRS national performance list.
DERRICK MOKALENG: 400m
Mokaleng returns to the NCAA indoor championships in the 400m for his second-consecutive season. Last season, Mokaleng earned First-Team All-America honors with a seventh-place finish. So far this season, Mokaleng matched Lewis Banda's school record in the 400m with a 45.67 mark at the Texas Tech Shootout and finished second at the Big 12 Championships in the 600-yard. Entering next week's national championships, Mokaleng ranks No.9 nationally.
FLOWERS, MATIYENGA, OGWO, MOKALENG: 4x400 Relay
TCU's 4x400 relay will also return to the national indoor meet for the second year in a row. Last year's group of Jostyn Andrews, Kevin McClanahan, Ogwo and Mokaleng finished seventh at the championship meet and earned First-Team All-America honors. Earlier in the season, the Horned Frogs ran 3:04.25, one of the fastest times of the season nationally. This season, TCU returns most of its group from a year ago, adding in Matiyenga to the rotation. The current group of Flowers, Matiyenga, Ogwo, and Mokaleng earned a spot at the national meet with a 3:05.73 finish at the Big 12 Championships, which moved them from No.14 to No.11 in the national performance list.
Players Mentioned
