Mapaya, Mile Relay Win Big 12 Titles

Sunday, May 12

Norman, Okla.

All Day

TCU

Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship

Mapaya, Mile Relay Win Big 12 Titles

5/12/2019 11:35:00 PM | Men's Outdoor Track, Women's Outdoor Track

Final Results

NORMAN, Okla. – TCU track and field added a pair of titles on Championship Sunday at the 2019 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Chengetayi Mapaya won his first outdoor triple jump title while the 4x400 relay defended its title from last year.

CONFERENCE TITLES
Mapaya led the field from the opening jump, reaching 16.54m (54-2.5) and never trailed. That jump was all he needed as he held on to win his second career conference title. TCU has dominated the triple jump in the Big 12 the last two seasons. Scotty Newton won both the indoor and outdoor titles last year, while Mapaya finished third at both meets a year ago and has won both indoors and outdoors this season.

TCU's mile relay capped off the meet with a title as well. Jostyn Andrews, Tinotenda Matiyenga, Glenn Bender, and Derrick Mokaleng teamed up for the first time this season and ran a season-best 3:04.86 for the win. Sunday was the third 4x400 conference title for TCU in the last two seasons, adding to the titles from the 2018 indoor and outdoor conference meets. TCU finished second at the indoor conference meet earlier this season.

FROGS ON THE PODIUM
The Horned Frogs opened the day with a pair of fifth-place finishes in the men's and women's 4x100 relays. Chyna Ries, Destiny Longmire, Hope Glenn, and Teleda Williams finished in 45.37, while Matiyenga, Tarrick Brock, Bender, and Mokaleng recorded a time of 39.93.

Mokaleng took home bronze in the 400m with a time of 45.94. Mokaleng has finished in the top three in the 400m in back-to-back outdoor seasons.

Matiyenga had a heavy workload on Sunday. In addition to running the mile relay and leading off the 4x100 relay, he competed in both the 100m and 200m finals. In a third-place effort, Matiyenga ran 20.82 in the 200m finals, and in the 100m, he and Brock finished fifth and sixth with times of 10.37 and 10.40 respectively. Matiyenga contributed 23 points in the meet.

In the women's 100m finals, 4x100 teammates Glenn and Longmire finished fourth and sixth respectively with times of 11.58 and 11.62. Including her second-place finish in the women's long jump, Longmire scored 15 points for TCU in the meet.

A pair of freshman hurdlers scored points in their first outdoor Big 12 Championships. In the men's 110 hurdles, Rainey Anderson finished fifth with a time of 14.25, while Blake Hennesay recorded a seventh-place time of 52.31 in the men's 400 hurdles.

In the women's 4x400 relay, Lily Beckford, Kiana Banks, Williams, and Kayla Heard added a seventh-place finish with a time of 3:38.36. Beckford also finished eighth in the 400m finals with a time of 53.68.

Brooklin Klopf added a personal-best in the women's discus, throwing 44.72m (146-9) and finishing tenth.

COACH'S THOUGHTS
"Congratulations to the Big 12 champions: Du in the triple jump and the men's 4x400 relay," head track and field coach Darryl Anderson said. "Winning the mile relay, I really take my hat off to those guys, because they faced some adversity. We lost a few guys from last year's team, whether that was due to graduation or injury, and those guys stepped up and won anyway. I thought we had a valiant effort today as a team on both sides. I think the future is bright and we're only going to get better. But now, we have to get ready for regionals and nationals."

UP NEXT
Horned Frogs with regional qualifying marks will return to action at the NCAA West Region Preliminary meet in Sacramento, Calif. The meet is scheduled for May 23-25.