adminagain be on Zimbabwean track and field star Ngonidzashe Makusha when he competes in this week’s first round of the NCAA Championships.
The three-day first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association will run from tomorrow to Saturday on the campus of the University of Indiana at Bloomington in Indianapolis, United States.
And Makusha will be part of the strong Florida State University’s men and women’s track and field teams that are expected to dominate this three-day event.
Making the trek to the Hoosier State will be 18 FSU women competing in 12 events and 20 FSU men competing in 14 events.
The FSU men’s team will be led by Makusha who on April 23 this year sent tongues wagging in the United States when he clocked sub-10 seconds by stopping the clock in 9,97 seconds in the 100m dash during the Atlantic Coast Conference finals in Northern Carolina.
This time was classified as the second fastest in the United States this year and it also shattered the Zimbabwean national 100m record which had been standing for more than two decades.
And according to reports from Florida State University, Makusha will once again be the man to watch out for in this week’s first round of the NCAA championships in Indianapolis.
In fact, the FSU squad for this meet boasts three east leaders in Makusha, Kim Williams and Maurice Mitchell.
Makusha leads the nation in the men’s long jump and Mitchell boasts the top time in the 200m dash in the east this year.
Williams, who recently set a personal record by leaping to an incredible distance of 14.25m in the triple jump while in Jamaica, is the collegiate leader in the event.
Williams will also compete in the women’s long jump and Makusha will be featured in the men’s 100m dash where he boasts the country’s second-fastest time and in the 4x100m relay.
In addition to the 200m dash, Mitchell will also compete alongside Makusha in the 100m as well as in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
FSU will be well represented in the distance events, with Violah Lagat running in the 800m, Amanda Winslow and Hannah Brooks running in the 1500m and Jessica Parry running in the 5000m.
On the men’s side, Ciaran O’Lionaird will pull double-duty in the 5000 and 10000m runs while Darrin Gibson will be in the 800m, Alex Smyth in the 1500m, David Forrester and Nicholas Maedel in the 5000m and Wes Rickman and Seth Proctor in the 10000m.
Makusha’s fellow Zimbabwean Paul Madzivire is also part of the FSU team for this meet and will compete in the men’s long jump event.
But it is the presence of Zimbabwean Makusha at the NCAA Championships which FSU’s head coach Bob Braman said will inspire his side to do well in the next three days.
“I’m very pleased with how we qualified and how we stack up for the upcoming first round of the NCAA Championships,” Braman said from Florida yesterday. “We need to be at our absolute best if our men, who will be led by Ngoni Makusha, are going to contend for a National Championship and our women are going to earn a top-10 national finish.”
This marks the second year of the new format, as Florida State again joins all 200 colleges and universities east of the Mississippi in the East Preliminary Round (now called the first round) that will include over 2 500 athletes.
The top 48 athletes from the region in their respective event were selected to participate in the first round with 12 advancing to the final site in Des Moines, Iowa.
There will be no team score as the meet will only be used to qualify those specific athletes for the NCAA Championships.
Here is a complete list of FSU competitors and the events
Women
Marecia Pemberton – 100m dash
Britany St. Louis – 400m dash
Violah Lagat – 800m run
Amanda Winslow – 1500m run
Hannah Brooks – 1500m run
Jessica Parry – 5000m run
Teona Rodgers, Stephanie Simpson, Danielle Jeffery and Britany St. Louis – 4x100m
Lizbeth Mabry – pole vault
Lauren Giffin – pole vault
Callie Giffin – pole vault
Amy Harris – long jump
Kim Williams – long jump and triple jump
Michelle Jenije – triple jump
Allyn Laughlin – shot put
Kamorean Hayes – shot put and discus
Chelsea Whalen – javelin throw
Men
Ngoni Makusha – 100m dash, 200m dash and long jump
Maurice Mitchell – 100m dash and 200m dash
Kemar Hyman – 100m dash
Brandon Byram – 200m dash
Charles Clark – 200m dash
Brandon O’Connor – 400m dash
Darrin Gibson – 800m run
Alex Smyth – 1500m run
David Forrester – 5000m run
Ciaran O’Lionaird – 5000m run and 10000m runNicholas Maedel – 5000m run
Michael Fout – 10000m run
Wes Rickman – 10000m run
Seth Proctor – 10000m run
Tremaine Grant – 110m hurdles
David Ambler, Ngoni Makusha, Maurice Mitchell, Brandon Byram – 4x100m
Phillip Young, Brandon Byram, Brandon O’Connor, Maurice Mitchell – 4x400m
Andew Lahaye – pole vault
Paul Madzivire – long jump
Michael Putman – shot put and discus
Online Reporter