ANDERSON, S.C. - For the first time in program history, the Carson-Newman track & field team is set to compete in Anderson, S.C. at the inaugural Electric City Invitational on Saturday, Apr. 16.
The field of teams will consist of top Division-II talent in SAC foes no. 8/12 Queens, Newberry, Lenoir-Rhyne, Lincoln Memorial and Wingate. The field also includes Division-I UNC-Greensboro and Division-II regional rivals North Greenville and USC-Aiken.
The Carson-Newman men's team enters the event ranked no. 23 in the USTFCCCA Division-II Rankings Index. Carson-Newman can attribute their success to a pair of award-winning performances by Makanakaishe Charamba and Joseph Oreva at the Lee Flames Invitational.
Charamba won all three races he competed in at the Lee Flames Invitational. The Harare, Zimbabwe native won the 200-meter run on Friday, Apr. 8, with a time of 20.84 seconds, beating out Michael Gizzi of Alabama-Huntsville by 0.47 seconds. The mark is a new personal best and gives Charamba the second-best time in all of Division-II in the race. Charamba sits behind Marlin Davis of Lenoir-Rhyne, who holds a time of 20.79 seconds.
On Saturday, Apr. 10, Charamba ran with the men's 4x100 meter relay team of PJ Lotharp, Tshenelo Lemao, and Siphosethu Boya as the Eagles won their second straight race of the outdoor season. The quartet beat host Lee by 0.14 seconds in just their second race together as a team. The Eagles hold the second-fastest time in the SAC in the event and the 18th fastest time in Division-II.
Charamba closed his day with a win in the 100-meter run with an NCAA provisional time of 10.48 seconds. The freshman beat out Silusapho Dingiswayo of Lee by 0.24 seconds to win the event championship. The mark is a new personal best and is the 18th fastest time in the race in all of Division-II.
Oreva finished third in the long jump with a distance of 7.77 meters. That mark sets a new meet record and is just 0.03 meters short of the school record set by Larry Cooke in 1977.
Oreva's mark beats out Christopher Goodwin from Central Missouri's previous number one mark of 7.64 meters by 0.13 meters. On his third jump of the day, Oreva had already passed Goodwin with a jump of 7.65 meters. Oreva beat out jumpers from LSU, Houston, Kentucky, Kent State and UConn. The two jumpers that beat out Oreva were former NCAA Division-I long jump champion Rayvon Grey at 7.91 meters and Julian Collins of Alabama at 8.05 meters.
Shane Connell has also continued his success from the indoor season. The Manchester, England native has won back-to-back event championships at in the high jump, winning titles at the Montreat Invitational and the Lee Flames Invitational. Connell has finished either second or first in the high jump in seven straight events dating back to the 2021 Lee Last Chance Meet.
On the women's side, the 4x400 meter relay team of Tytiana Wilson, Abbie Zander, Lauren Tabor and Morgan Bailey just recorded their best time of the season, finishing fifth at the Lee Flames Invitational with a time of 4:01.67. That time is the second-fastest in school history, just 0.38 seconds shy of the school record set in 2015.
In distance events, Rachel Strayer holds the top times in the 800-meter, 1500-meter and 5000-meter runs this outdoor season. The senior out of Murfreesboro, Tenn. finished third in the 5,000-meter run at the WKU Relays with a time of 17:42.25. That time breaks the old record set in 2009 by Aubrey Morris, beating the old time of 18:25.00 by a whopping 42.05 seconds.
The Electric City Invitational kicks off at 10:00 AM. Fans can follo along with live results available here.
