Mizzou Track & Field to Send Five Student-Athletes to NCAA Indoor Championships
3/3/2021 9:15:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field
Tigers will send four jumpers and one runner
COLUMBIA, Mo, – Mizzou Track & Field is set to send five student-athletes to Fayetteville, Ark. for the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and and Field Championships on March 11-13. As announced by the NCAA on Tuesday, the Tigers will send a quartet of jumpers and one mid-distance track athlete. Redshirt senior Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, Ill.) will compete in the long jump, while juniors Georgi Nachev (Yambol, Bulgaria) and Arianna Fisher (San Jose, Calif.) will compete in the triple jump. On the track, senior Chris Conrad (O'Fallon, Ill.) will run the 800m. After a scratch among the top-16 competitors, sophomore Euphenie Andre (Dover Plains, N.Y.) will also qualify for the women's triple jump.
Ward, who has qualified for four NCAA Championships throughout his collegiate career, will compete in the men's long jump. A three-time All-American and school record holder in the long jump, Ward's best mark came at the SEC Indoor Championships with a leap of 7.93m (26-0.25), leading him to a sixth-place finish in a field of stacked competitors. His season best mark also ranks eighth nationally this season. In 2019 Ward won the U.S. Championship at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. A season ago, Ward qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, however, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season before, Ward finished seventh in the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships.
A trio of triple jumpers will also take the runway for Mizzou, led by Fisher on the women's side. Fisher, who is also the school record holder in her event, earned a silver medal at the SEC Indoor Championships and broke her own school record in the process with a jump of 13.47m (44-2.50). Fisher's mark ranks 10th nationally, as she is making her first appearance in the NCAA Championships.
Joining Fisher in the triple jump, Andre will also make her first NCAA appearance. In her short time as a Tiger, Andre has quickly moved up in the record books, as she is currently tied for the second-best jump in program history. At the SEC Indoor Championships, Andre placed fourth with a personal best jump of 13.21m (43-4.25), which ranks 16th nationally. Andre also won the triple jump once earlier this season at the Wooo Pig Invitational.
Nachev will compete in the men's triple jump in his first NCAA Indoor Championships appearance. Nachev currently holds the second-best triple jump mark in program history and the longest leap since 1978. At the SEC Indoor Championships, Nachev took home sixth place with a personal best jump of 16.07m (52-8.75), which ranks 15th in the nation. Nachev also notched two first-place finishes throughout the indoor season in both the Arkansas Qualifier and Wooo Pig Invitational. In 2019, Nachev qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he finished in 22nd place in the triple jump.
On the track, Conrad will represent the Tigers in the men's 800m. Conrad owns the 12th best 800m mark in the nation this season, which he set at the Cyclone Invitational with a time of 1:48.45. His mark moved him up in the Mizzou record books, as he now holds the fifth fastest time in program history. Conrad registered one first place finish on the season, as he took home the gold in the Music City Challenge. Conrad last qualified for an NCAA event in 2018, as he placed 37th in the 800m at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships.
Mizzou will kick off the competition down in Fayetteville on Friday, March 12 with the men's long jump and 800m semifinal. On day two, Nachev, Fisher and Andre will compete in the triple jump.
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