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SOUTH CAROLINA.  — Hauling in three gold medals, Zimbabwean athlete Makanakaishe Charamba was named the 2022 SAC Men’s Track & Field Freshman of the Year and the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championship Athlete of the Meet on the final day of the championship event.

The Carson-Newman University men’s sprints team started the day strong, sweeping the podium in the finals of the 100-metre run. Charamba won the conference championship with a time of 10.36 seconds. That is a new personal best for the freshman and moves Charamba past David Morgan of Angelo State for 14th fastest in Division-II.

His teammate Siphosethu Boya finished second to earn the silver medal with a time of 10.41 seconds. Rounding out the perfect sweep for Carson-Newman was PJ Lotharp finishing third, also with a time of 10.41 seconds. That time is an NCAA provisional mark and moves Lotharp into a tie with fellow Eagle Devon Moore and Braylen Brewer of Pittsburg State for the 20th fastest time in Division-II.

Chramba’s day wasn’t done, as the Zimbabwean won the gold medal in the 200m run with a time of 21.02 seconds. Charamba has now won 11 straight finals races combined between the 100m, 200m and 4×100m relay races. Charamba is the second straight Eagle to win the SAC Outdoor Men’s Freshman of the Year Award. Sterling Melancon won the award in 2021. The Eagles have now won three of the last four SAC Men’s Freshman of the Year awards, as Christian Shouse took home the honor after the 2020 indoor season.

“Maka is a clear talent,” says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs “He is one of the best in the nation and it showed this week. Not only does he compete, but he supports his teammates. He went and ran the 200 metre and then went and watched Tray throw the discus because he wanted to support him. Those are the kind of kids you want on your team.”

As a team, the Carson-Newman men finished fourth with 101.5 points while the women finished ninth with 45 points. Queens took home the men’s championship while Lenoir-Rhyne won the women’s championship.

“We had an amazing weekend,” says Needs. “All of our coaches did a great job getting our kids ready to compete and be succesful and Kelly Brock keeps us all together on the training side. This was a tough meet with top talent and our guys pushed forward against guys they’ll see again at the NCAA Championships. We also had a lot of kids go out and set personal bests, and then kids like Sydney McCarty and Nathalie Schumacher who were warriors all weekend and participated in multiple events to the best of their ability. Now we have a group that is focussing on getting to the national championships and doing well there.”

The Eagles will wrap up the season at the Lee Last Chance Meet on Saturday, May 14. — Carsonnewmaneagles.com.