NCAA Entries - Men | NCAA Entries - Women
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Track & Field qualified four student-athletes for next week's NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, announced by the NCAA Tuesday night. For the men, freshman Roberto Vilches (Mexico City, Mexico) will compete in the high jump and redshirt sophomore Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, Ill.) will compete in the long jump. For the women, redshirt junior Jordan McClendon (Black Jack, Mo.) will throw in the weight throw and freshman Mirieli Santos (Mato Grosso, Brazil) will compete in the triple jump. The meet will take place March 8-9, at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
The four athletes Mizzou will send to the NCAA Indoor meet is the most the Tigers have sent since 2013 when Mizzou also sent four student-athletes. To qualify for the NCAA Indoor meet, a student-athlete needed to record a top-16 time/mark at any point in the indoor season. Ward will be making his second NCAA Indoor meet appearance after finishing seventh in the long jump in 2018, while Vilches, McClendon and Santos will all be making their debuts at the NCAA Indoor meet.
Vilches owns the highest-ranked mark of Mizzou's group, as his clearance of 2.26m (7-5) at the Missouri Intercollegiate (Jan. 11) ranks sixth in the NCAA this season. The Tiger freshman cleared seven-feet in the high jump in five meets this season, and was the top freshman finisher in the high jump at the SEC Indoor Championships where he placed fifth with a jump of 2.22m (7-3.25).
Ward seeks an All-America finish for the second consecutive season at the NCAA Indoor meet after finishing fifth in the 2018 NCAA Indoor meet with a leap of 7.82m (25-8). Ward has competed in the long jump at three meets this season, producing a season-best mark at the Missouri Intercollegiate with a mark of 7.81m (25-7.5).
McClendon, who is coming off a bronze medal performance at the SEC Indoor Championships, will make her debut at the NCAA Indoor meet in the weight throw. The Tiger junior finished third in Fayetteville with a mark of 21.04m (69-0.5) to earn All-SEC honors for the first time in her career. Her season-best mark of 21.76m (71-4.75) was set at the Husker Invitational (Feb. 1) and is the second-best mark in program history, and currently ranks 13th in the NCAA this season.
Santos, who has only jumped twice in her debut season in the Black & Gold, finished eighth at the SEC Indoor Championships with a mark of 13.21m (43-4.25). It was the second time in as many meets that the Tiger freshman set the triple jump school record, as she originally set the mark at the Tyson Invitational (Feb. 9) with a mark of 13.00m (42-8).
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