Mizzou track and field’s Roberto Vilches and Chris Conrad qualified for the NCAA Championships in the men’s high jump and 800-meter run, respectively, during Day 3 of the NCAA West Preliminary on Friday in Sacramento, California.
Vilches finished third in the high jump, leaping 7 feet, 1½ inches. Conrad recorded a personal-best time of 1 minute, 46.79 seconds to finish fifth overall and third in his heat.
Two other Tigers competed Friday. Mitchell Weber competed in the men’s discus, throwing the disc 184-4 to finish 16th. Mitchell Small also ran in the men’s 5,000, crossing the line in 14:06.01 to finish 36th. Georgi Nachev, who was set to compete in the men’s triple jump, did not start in the event.
The Tigers will have nine athletes competing across four different events during the final day of the preliminary round Saturday — Ames Burton, Emily Offenheiser and Kaia Harris (women’s discus), Claudina Diaz (women’s high jump), Kelsey Schweizer (800) and Arianna Fisher, Euphenie Andre, Mara Häusler and Mirieli Santos (women’s triple jump)
Hickman alum Gibbens qualifies in men’s 5,000
Hickman grad Chandler Gibbens stole the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships in the men’s 5,000 with a time of 13:40.31. Gibbens finished sixth in his heat but was the second fastest time of athletes that did not advance via a top-five placement in their heat.