T-Bird Men’s Track and Field Wins Indoor National Championship

The New Mexico Junior College men's track and field team won the 2023 NJCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field National Championship on Saturday, March 4. The Thunderbirds ended a 43-year-old drought winning the national title for the first time since 1980.

The T-Birds scored 107 points to finish in a tie for first place with South Plains College. The Texan's were favored by 60 points headed into nationals. The Thunderbirds finished the indoor national meet with six individual champions, 16 All-Americans, and one All-American relay team.

Kelsey Daniel springboarded the T-Birds on Day 1 of the competition with his win in the long jump. The sophomore leapt to a mark of 7.81m, enough to crown him a national champion. 

Dalton Smith earned the second individual national championship in the pole vault as he sprung his way to a height of 4.78m.

"Dalton had no misses until everyone else was out of the competition, he showed up to compete." NMJC men's track and field head coach Keith Blackwill said.

Tomas Vega set a school record in the 5000m placing third in the event with a time of 14:24.41. The Top 8 finish earns himself All-American honors. 

German Vega was a two-time All-American in the 5000m and 3000m Friday evening. The freshman distance runner placed sixth in the 5000m with a time of 14:33.79 and seventh in the 3000m with a school record breaking time of 8:27.04. 

The Thunderbirds were in prime position after the conclusion of Day 1. NMJC scored 31 points during the first day and trailed Colby CC by one point.

Kelsey Daniel set the tone again on Saturday morning in the triple jump. The Trinidad and Tobago native led the entire event up until the second to last jump when Iowa Central's Roman Kuleshov took the lead with a jump of 16.06m. 

In dramatic fashion, Daniel received one last chance to better Kuleshov. The crowd was fixated on Daniel as he sprinted down the runway toward his final jump of the meet. Daniel was able to glide through the air before splashing down in the pit three centimeters past Kuleshov's final jump. Daniel became a two-time national champion with the 16.09m jump.

"Kelsey had a very big weekend winning both the long jump and triple jump," Blackwill said. "Probably the most impressive event of the meet was the triple jump. Kelsey winning the event on his final jump is next level!"

Dhia Gaaloul gutted out an eighth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 14.44m. Gaaloul was hampered by a foot injury for most of nationals but still managed to gut out an All-American performance.

Che Saunders broke the eight second barrier in the national meet with a 60mH third-place finish of 7.99 (All-American). 

Jahvel Granville was the last man in the final for the 60mH finishing in seventh place as an All-American with a time of 8.16. 

Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu was the star on the track becoming a national champion in the 60m with a school record run of 6.63. The All-American performance earned him the third-fastest time ever in the NJCAA. 

Makarawu completed the double becoming a two-time national champion with his blazing run of 20.51in the 200m. The freshman accounted for 22 of the team's 107 points in Topeka. 

"Carlie was pressed in the 60m and out-leaned the second-place finisher, which was very exciting," Blackwill said. "The 200m was a very relaxed win for him. It was a great meet for him."

All-American Dyimond Walker placed fifth in the 600m running the race in 1:19.22. Evans Pololet set a new school record with his All-American third-place finish in the mile (4:09.85).

Aymane El Haddaoui earned All-American honors with his sixth-place finish in the 400m (47.40).

Takudzwa (Donald) Chiyangwa won the national championship in the 400m, setting a school record with a speedy 46.12 finish. Chiyangwa's 400m run is now No. 4 all-time in the NJCAA.

"Donald led the race from start to finish, great execution of the race plan." Blackwill said.

Evans Pololet had arguably the most important event of the final day. The penultimate event, the 1000m, would dictate what the T-Birds would need in the final race of the day in order to win their first title in 43 years. Pololet ran his race and came into the final 50m in fifth place. 

The two-time All-American kicked vigorously in the last 10m to come across the line in third place with a time of 2:28.39. Pololet narrowly crossed the line .04 seconds prior to Iowa Western's Mohammed Kowa. 

The T-Birds went into the final race of the national meet leading South Plains 99-97 in points. The national meet would come down to the last race, the 4x400 relay. A first-place finish would give the T-Birds the outright win. A second place-finish would earn the T-Birds Co-National Champions with South Plains. 

The T-Birds fell behind on the first leg after a 48.343 split from Aymane El Haddaoui. Two-time national champion Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu guided the T-Birds back into the race with a 45.446 split on the second leg. All-American Dyimond Walker picked up more ground on the third leg with his 47.544 split. 

The race would come down to the anchor leg run by the 400m national champion Takudzwa (Donald) Chiyangwa. The freshman had moved his way into second place nipping at the heels of South Plains. 

The race came down to the final 50 meters with South Plains edging the T-Birds by .33 seconds. Chiyangwa's anchor leg finished in 45.928 and NMJC finished the 4x400 in second place with a school record run of 3:07.26.

The second-place finish by the 4x400 relay team was enough to crown the T-Birds national champions for the first time since 1980.

Coach Blackwill said that both NMJC track and field teams met his expectations he set for the indoor season.

"Both teams competed with a lot of heart all throughout the indoor season," Blackwill said. "Our expectations for this meet were for them to do exactly what they had done all the season. They did exactly that, it takes a complete team effort to win national titles. We are very proud of them."

Winning national titles does not come easy. Coach Blackwill said that his assistants were a huge reason the T-Birds saw success this season.

"The assistant coaches did a great job of preparing their event groups to compete. Every one of the coaches played a key role in the success of both programs," Blackwill said. "I cannot say enough about how great this staff is. Credit should also go to former NMJC assistant coach Tabarie Henry, who worked very hard in the recruiting process last year to get the athletes we have today."

One thing is for certain after Saturday's performance. The Thunderbirds are here to stay.

"I think winning the 2023 Men's and Women's Indoor Championship sends a message to the other NJCAA teams that we have stepped up and became one of the top overall programs in the nation. I am very proud of both teams and our coaches at NMJC."