Checking in with coach Chamov: Missouri jumps progress report

Coach Chamov said their continued success is a byproduct of the quality of work they do and the quality of people they are.

Despite external excitement, Missouri’s jumps team receives awards with a refreshing nonchalance.

This week, Missouri triple jumper Jonathan Seremes earned votes for the 2025 Bowerman Watch List, which honors the “most outstanding” male and female track & field athletes. He’s only the third Tiger in program history to earn votes, and the first male.

“That’s okay, whatever,” jumps coach Iliyan Chamov said casually. “That doesn’t really bring any emotions or like, excitement to me.”

A native of Paris, France, Seremes wasn’t even familiar with the collegiate American honor until his coach explained it to him.

Results and awards are just byproducts of the high-quality people Chamov’s athletes are. Great people become great competitors.

When he attends a big meet like the World Championships, Chamov often says, “There (are) no random people there.”

Meaning, no one just randomly ranks No. 1 in the country in the triple jump (Seremes) or wins an SEC title (Euphenie Andre) or breaks a school record (Kristi Perez-Snyman).

“It really takes an extraordinary level of intelligence and being a good human to make it to that stage,” Chamov said.

Luck has no place on those highest podiums.

“When you’re working with high-level professional-thinking athletes,” Chamov said, “They’re thinking how to better their game and performance and how to be a better professional performer on the track.”

Seremes focuses on competing.

“He’s a person that doesn’t allow environment, conditions, competition or whatever external factors that faze him,” Chamov said.

“He’s always on top of his game, and if he’s ready for his result, he’s gonna show it off.”

Even if he waits until the sixth and final hour to do so.

Seremes jumped 0.4 meters farther on his final attempt than any prior jump to break the school record at the Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational.

Chamov said Seremes didn’t make any major adjustments in between attempts — meets aren’t the right moment to “learn new skills.” Rather, Seremes just needed to find his rhythm on the approach.

He did.

Now he leads the nation.

Seremes may not be chasing certain rankings, but he’s earning them.

So are the rest of Chamov’s fleet of nationally-ranked Tigers.

Jacksonville transfer Kristi Perez-Snyman broke the school high jump record last week.

Exciting? Yes. Surprising? No.

“I was expecting it,” Chamov said.

“I was actually expecting it at the previous competition,” he said laughing.

He called Missouri’s previous record (1.83m) a “unicorn.”

“You see it, like you know it’s there, but you cannot catch it.”

But Perez-Snyman is still expecting more.

Barring any significant changes, Perez-Snyman, Seremes, Sterling Scott (TJ), Euphenie Andre (TJ) and Claudina Diaz (HJ) will compete at SEC Indoors in College Station in a few weeks.

Are they planning to send a message to the rest of the conference?

No, that’s not Chamov’s thing. But his jumpers will strive for excellence all the same.

“I’m expecting great things from them,” he said. “I’m expecting them to be healthy and to be happy (with) what they do.”

By the Numbers:

Missouri ended its five-meet home stand with a quieter Missouri Invitational on Friday. Several Tigers are rank in the top 25 nationally after their first few meets. Any athlete ranked within the top 8 of their event is unofficially on “All-American Watch.”

Men: The Missouri men rank 17th in the nation and 12th in the SEC.

Triple jump:

• No. 1: Jonathan Seremes, 16.94m*
• No. 6: Sterling Scott, 16.28m

Weight throw:

• No. 8: Sam Innes, 22.98m*

Women: The Missouri women rank 35th in the nation and 12th in the SEC.

Triple Jump:

• No. 4: Euphenie Andre, 13.49m

High Jump:

• No. 6: Kristi Perez-Snyman, 1.86m*
• No. 20: Claudina Diaz, 1.81m

200m:

• No. 23: Alicia Burnett, 23.35*

*Denotes school record.