ROCK HILL, S.C. - Makanakaishe Charamba continues to haul in awards following his freshman season, earning SAC Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year honors announced by the conference on Thursday, June 9.
The SAC Men's Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year award is determined following the completion of the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship and is voted on by the league's head coaches.
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.
The freshman finished the regular season with the 15th fastest time in Division-II in the 100-meter run, recording a time of 10.35 seconds en route to a gold medal at the SAC Outdoor Championships. In the 200-meter run, Charamba's time of 20.84 seconds set at the Lee Flames Invitational was the ninth-fastest in Division-II entering the championship meet.
Charamba closed out his freshman campaign with six individual race victories and six combined championships in the 100 and 200 meter runs.
Earlier this week, Charamba was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Male Track Athlete of the Year.
This is the third straight year that a Carson-Newman sprinter has been named SAC Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Devon Moore won back-to-back awards for the 2019 and 2021 seasons. No award was given in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
