VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.- Makanakaishe Charamba brought home a gold medal and a national title, cruising to a facility record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.55 seconds, Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
Charamaba becomes the track and field program's third national champion, joining Larry Cooke (Long Jump, 1978) and Tanner Stepp (High Jump, 2018).
Charamba's national title in the 200 was one of three first-team All-America performances for the program. He took seventh in the 60 meters, while Sade De Sousa finished fifth in the women's 60 at the 2023 NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships.
"I'm so proud of the effort we saw during the championships. To bring three athletes in four events and walk away with three All-Americans, it certainly doesn't feel too bad," head track and field coach David Needs said. "One of the things we've preached all year is that in order to be effective at nationals, you have to be where you've been at or better to make a mark. These athletes were able to not only compete at the level they have all year, but to exceed that level".
Charamba's performance resets his own personal mark in the event, the school record and the facility record for the Virginia Beach Sports Center for the second time in two days.
Charamba now holds the second and third fastest recorded times in NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships history. The only quicker time was 20.48 seconds from Trevor Bassitt of Ashland University in 2021. With his effort this afternoon, Charamba becomes the track and field program's third national champion in Carson-Newman history.
Charamba's performance is the second individual national title for the department in the last three days (Manon Compagner won the 100 butterfly at swim nationals on Thursday. It goes down as the department's fourth NCAA national title and the ninth overall in school history.
Larry Cooke (1978) won the department's, and the track program's, first individual national championship taking home gold in the long jump during Carson-Newman's days as members of NAIA. Charamba's national championship is the ninth overall individual title for the department when including NAIA performances and 14th when including team trophies.
"I'm truly so impressed by Makanakaishe. He started off the day with a not as good a start as he wanted in the 60-meter dash, but he came back. That is what champions do, and he was able to come in to the 200-meter dash final with a confidence that was amazing and helped him become a national champion," Needs said.
Makanakaishe Charamba ran in the men's 60-meter dash finals at 4:10 p.m. The Eagle placed seventh in 6.82 seconds to earn his second All-American title on the indoor season.
"For Makanakaishe, it was impressive to see him compete in four races in two days. That is not an easy task, especially in sprints, but he battled through in a huge way," Needs said.
Sade De Dousa claimed her All-American status this afternoon in the 60-meter dash finals. De Sousa finished fifth in the nation in 7.37 seconds. De Sousa set a new personal record with her performance and a new program record for Carson-Newman track and field.
"Sade has consistently improved all season. It is exciting to watch her to continue to grow even in the 60-meter dash finals today. She is the first women's first-team All-American for the program, and she deserves every ounce of the title," Needs said.
De Sousa and Kadidja Sangare are the first two female All-Americans since Tori Gaul in 2018 who placed 10th in the pole vault. De Sousa is the first-ever female first-team All-American in Carson-Newman track and field history. Sangare secured her second team All-American honors yesterday afternoon after placing eleventh in the women's long jump. Her 5.83-meter leap made her the first female long jump All-American in Carson-Newman track and field history.
"I'm so thankful for the group we brought and for the coaches, Kris and Kieran, for how they have impacted these athletes throughout the season and at this meet. It was a great trip. One thing we have talked about all season is representing Carson-Newman well with the way we perform and to be God-honoring in everything we do. These athletes certainly did that today," Needs said.
Carson-Newman track and field officially closed the door on the 2022-2023 indoor season at the conclusion of the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Eagles leave with three new All-Americans in the Carson-Newman athletics history books and a 19th place national ranking for the men's team. Head track and field coach David Needs will release the 2023 outdoor track and field schedule in the upcoming week. Stay up to date on cneagles.com
