COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Track & Field All-Americans Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, Ill.) and Roberto Vilches (Mexico City, Mexico) are set to compete at the U23 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Athletic Championships, which will be held July 5-7, in Queretaro, Mexico. Ward will represent the United States while Vilches will represent his home nation in Mexico.
Ward, who will compete in the long jump on at 6:35 p.m. CT on Friday, July 5, recently concluded his redshirt sophomore campaign at Mizzou by winning his second career SEC title in the long jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships (May 10) with a leap of 8.10m (26-7). The jump was just shy of his personal-best mark of 8.13m (26-8.25), which he set in his first conference championship performance at the 2017 SEC Outdoor Championships. In indoor competition, Ward has earned back-to-back All-America finishes, recording a seventh-place finish in 2018 and an eighth-place finish in 2019. Ward is the current school record holder in the indoor long jump after producing a mark of 7.97m (26-1.75) in 2018.
Vilches, who will compete in the high jump on at 8:05 a.m. CT on Sunday, July 7, just completed his debut season at Mizzou with a pair of All-America honors, earning a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 7) and a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 9). Vilches cleared seven feet in all six of his outdoor meets during the collegiate season, including a season-best performance at the Mizzou Spring Open where Vilches cleared 2.27m (7-5.25). Vilches is the indoor school record holder in the high jump, as he broke Mizzou's 42-year-old school record at the Missouri Intercollegiate (Jan. 11) with a jump of 2.26m (7-4).
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MIZZOU ENTIRES
U-23 Long Jump, Men (Friday, July 5 – 6:35 PM CT) – Ja'Mari Ward
U-23 High Jump, Men (Sunday, July 7 – 8:05 PM CT) – Roberto Vilches