adminUnited States who will be out to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres at this week’s National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at Des Moines in Iowa.
The 2011 NCAA Championships are set to run from today to Saturday and Makusha will be part of a strong Florida State University track and field team for this prestigious meet.
Makusha (24) recently qualified to compete for Florida at this year’s NCAA Championships in three events – the men’s 100m, the 4x100m relay and his favourite event, the long jump. Although Makusha, who is currently on as four-year athletics scholarship at Florida State University, has done well in the long jump event in the past, it is in the 100m dash in which he has been setting the scene alight in of late.
Only two months ago – April 23 to be exact – Makusha sent tongues wagging in the United States when he posted one of the fastest 100m dash times in the world this year. Makusha, who was unearthed at Mandedza High School at Seke near Chitungwiza in Zimbabwe, blazed his way to an astonishing 9.97 seconds when winning the 100m event during the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Championships at Durham in North Carolina. This was not only an ACC record but it also shattered a Zimbabwean national 100m record of 10.15 seconds which had been standing for more than two decades. The young Zimbabwean athlete was flooded with congratulations from across the United States after this phenomenal achievement which placed him among the best collegiate athletes for this current outdoor season. And Makusha will be back under the spotlight at this week’s NCAA Championships where he will once again compete in the 100m dash as well as in the 4x100m relay and the long jump events. But it is Makusha’s presence in the 100m dash which will create more interest at this meet as he will take on a number of other top collegiate sprinters in the United States who are aiming to break the 10-second barrier at Des Moines this week. Only a handful of sprinters will finish a 100 metres race in less than 10 seconds this season – and according to records from Track and Field News in the United States, less than 100 runners in history have accomplished the feat under wind-legal conditions with automated timing – yet, it remains a relatively unheralded achievement.
“I feel like if there were more people doing it, it would be talked about more,” Illinois junior Stanley Azie was quoted as saying from the United States yesterday. “It’s one of those accomplishments that’s quietly looked past.”
Azie is among the qualifiers trying to make noise in the 100m during this week’s NCAA Championships.
While the four-minute mile, which can be accomplished more than 100 times in a single year, symbolises a breakthrough for middle-distance runners, eclipsing 10.0 in the 100m rarely generates chatter.
Jeff Demps of Florida (with a wind-aided 9.96) and Florida State’s Makusha (9.97) are the only competitors arriving in Des Moines who have run under 10 seconds this season.
Any athlete who joins that list would leave Drake Stadium with world-class credentials this week.
“It would be a magical season,” Texas Southern’s Philip Redrick said. “You know you can run with the best any day, any time.”
How does the 10-second barrier compare to other athletic plateaus?
More than 30 players are hitting .300 or better in Major League Baseball, and the past NFL season produced more than a dozen 1 000-yard rushers.
According to the USA Track and Field website, just three American professional sprinters have run under 10 seconds this outdoor season.
“I’ve trained really hard to get where I’ve gotten,” said Makusha’s teammate at Florida State, Maurice Mitchell, who ran a 10.03. “To get as close as I have is a blessing, really.”
Oklahoma’s Mookie Salaam dreams of breaking 10 seconds in the 100, and 20 second in the 200 metres.
“It would be a blessing to reach those times,” said Salaam, who owns season-best marks of 10.19 and 20.05.
Joining such a fraternity requires ideal conditions and flawless execution.
“When you’re trying to get under that barrier, you’ve got to have the perfect race,” Salaam said, “and just have fun out there.”
Much like a wrestler trying to shed an extra pound, a sprinter can come tantalizingly close to his goals.
“A lot of people will just get stuck around that 10.1 or 10.2 range for so long and never really improve,” Azie said. “It doesn’t seem like that much when you say a tenth of a second, but in reality it can be the difference of like five or six metres.”
Warm temperatures and an appreciative crowd could help close the gap.
“This year might be one of the years,” Azie said, “where there are two guys who go under it.”
And hopefully Zimbabwe’s Makusha will be among them at the business end of the NCAA Championships on Saturday.
Online Reporter