Zimbabwe: Makusha Back in Action

Collin Matiza

24 May 2011

AFTER setting the second fastest time of the year in the 100m dash in the United States last month, all eyes will once again 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

AllAfrica – All the Time