NEW ORLEANS, La. - After finishing twelfth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Carson-Newman track & field team and staff earned three major awards from the USTFCCCA on Monday, June 6.
Freshman Makanakaishe Charamba was named the Southeast Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year, while Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs was named Southeast Region Men's Coach of the Year. Assistant Director of Track & Field Kieran Showler-Davis was named Southeast Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.
Charamba, who hails from Harare, Zimbabwe, scored 13.5 points at the NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships thanks to a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 meters and 200 meters, as well as a carry on the third-place 4×100 relay. That was the most points by an athlete from the Southeast Region at the NCAA Championships.
Charamba was named the SAC Male Track Athlete of the Year after sweeping the short sprints and helping on the winning 4×100 at the conference meet. He also earned the SAC Freshman of the Year title at conference. He is a member of the school record holding men's 4x100 meter relay team and holds the school record in the 200-meter run, running a time of 20.41 seconds at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
David Needs earns Southeast Region Men's Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Needs, in his 25th year at Carson-Newman, led his team to score the most points by a Southeast Region team in NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships history. The Eagles put up 26 points in Allendale, Michigan, thanks to a pair of scorers in the 100 meters (third, sixth), third-place finishes in the 200 meters and 4×100 relay, as well as a sixth-place effort in the long jump. Carson-Newman had four marks that topped the regional charts this season.
Needs last won the award in 2019.
Kieran Showler-Davis earned USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors. In his fourth year as sprints coach at Carson-Newman, Showler-Davis coached the Eagles sprinters to 21 points at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. His 100-meter group rated No. 2 in the national #EventSquad Rankings and was led by Charamba, who finished third in both the 100 and 200 in the national championships.
