NEW ORLEANS, La. - After finishing fourth at the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championships, the Carson-Newman men's team is up one spot to 17th in the USTFCCCA Track & Field Ratings Index.
Carson-Newman joins no. 14 Queens as the only two teams from the SAC ranked in the TFRI. West Texas A&M remains at no. one in the weekly national rankings.
The Eagle men owe their new ranking to a spectacular performance at the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championships. The C-N men hauled in six total gold medals and a school record performance in the 4x100 meter relay in Anderson. Makanakaishe Charamba led the convocation with three gold medals.
The orange and blue opened the SAC Championship meet with a bang, taking home the men's 4x100 meter relay championship with a school record run of 39.93 seconds. The quartet of PJ Lotharp, Charamba, Siphosethu Boya and Devon Moore broke the school record for the second straight week, becoming the first C-N men's relay team to finish the race in under 40 seconds.
The time is also the fifth fastest time in the event in all of Division-II. Only six teams in Division-II have finished the 4x100 men's relay in under 40 seconds in the 2022 outdoor track season.
On day two of the championships, the men's sprints team started the day strong, sweeping the podium in the finals of the 100-meter 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 Harare, Zimbabwe native won the gold medal in the 200-meter run with a time of 21.02 seconds. Charamba has now won eleven straight finals races combined between the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100 meter 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.
Winning his fifth straight high jump championship of the season, Shane Connell took home his first SAC Outdoor Championship medal in his career, winning the high jump with a clearance of 2.00 meters. The Manchester, England native needed just one jump to clear the two meter mark, clinching the second championship of the day for the Carson-Newman men. It is the second straight year that the Eagles have won the men's high jump championship after Isaiah Kyle won the event in 2021.
For the fourth straight SAC Track & Field Championship event, Joseph Oreva won the long jump championship for Carson-Newman. Oreva jumped a distance of 7.50 meters, beating out Jacob Wadsworth of Lenoir-Rhyne by 0.21 meters. Oreva has now won seven career event championships in Mossy Creek.
The outdoor championships wrapped up with Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche winning his second straight gold medal in the discus, finishing first with a toss of 52.61 meters. He was the lone competitor to sling the disc over 50 meters, beating out Elliot Zirwas of Wingate by 5.28 meters. The senior has now finished in the top-five in the discus at 13 straight meets.
Carson-Newman ends the 2022 regular season on Saturday, May 14, at the Lee Last Chance Meet. Fans can follow along for all the news and notes on Carson-Newman track at cneagles.com.