Makarawu and Chiyangwa Repeat, NMJC Finishes Runner-Up at Indoor Nationals

The NMJC men's track & field team finished runner-up to Indian Hills on Saturday, March 2 at the 2024 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Gainesville, Fla.

Indian Hills won the team national title with a score of 91.5 points. The Thunderbirds came 7.5 points short of the Warriors with a team total of 84 points. South Plains came in third place with a team score of 67.

The T-Birds finished Day 2 with seven more individual All-Americans, three individual national champions, and one relay All-American squad.

Sprinter Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu won the 60m dash with a time of 6.63 to win back-to-back indoor 60m titles. The national champion winning time equaled what Makarawu ran last year at indoor nationals in Kansas and matched the 60m school record he currently holds.

Makarawu completed the double for the second consecutive year with his national title in the 200m. The Harare, Zimbabwe native backed up his performance in the 60m with a blazing 20.47 in the 200m to easily win the national title over Glendale CC's Dominick Brister by .29 seconds. Makarawu accounted for 20 of the team's 84 points in just two events.

Takudzwa (Donald) Chiyangwa won the 400m national championship for the second consecutive year with a finish of 46.81. Chiyangwa defeated Indian Hills's Chris Johnson by .26 seconds to earn the men's team 10 crucial points. The Harare, Zimbabwe native ran a 46.12 in the 400m finals last year to win the 2023 indoor championship.

The national champion performance by Carlie and Donald is nothing new to NMJC assistant track & field/sprints coach Tabarie Henry.

"Those guys are sensational. We knew coming in what they were capable of and we just had to execute and get the job done," Henry said. "Donald and Carlie are elite athletes; they train hard and put the work in. They're humble kids and do everything right. I am proud to see it happen for them."

The All-American 4x400m squad of Takudzwa (Donald) Chiyangwa, Dyimond Walker, TK Pahuwa, and Aymane El Haddaoui finished in third place with a time of 3:10.77 in the mile relay. Fort Scott CC set the facility record in the 4x400m with a national title finish of 3:10.24. The time was .53 seconds quicker than the Thunderbirds six-point finish.  

Hurdler Amir Williams moved up four places from his qualifying spot to finish in fourth place in the final of the 60mH. Williams's 7.93 was .14 seconds behind Meridian's 60mH champion Kylan Bernard. The freshman All-American added five points to the T-Bird team total.

German Vega placed in all three events he competed in at indoor nationals. Vega finished in third place in the 5000m and fourth in the 3000m on Friday.

On Saturday, he became a three-time All-American with his fourth-place finish. The Argentinian ran a 4:07.87 to break the school record by 1.95 seconds. Evans Pololet initially set the record in 2023 with a time of 4:09.85. German ended the meet with three All-American medals and 16 points produced for the team score. 

Tomas Vega was one spot out of earning top eight honors in the mile with his time of 4:08.99. The finish technically broke the NMJC school record set by Pololet for five minutes before his brother German stole the record away in the final heat of the mile.

Dyimond Walker placed sixth overall with his 1:18.39 finish in the 600m. The All-American time was .83 seconds faster than what he ran in at nationals last year in Kansas and earned the team three points. Competition was stiff this year as Walker placed fifth last season in the event with a slower time.  

Distance runner Alex Keter ran a 1:53.45 in the 800m final to place seventh and grab two points for the T-Birds. Keter's All-American finish in the 800m was only his second time running the event collegiately. 

Overall, the T-Birds finished with 13 All-Americans, four individual national champions, and two relay All-American squads at the 2024 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Indoor national champion jumper Khybah Dawson was named the 2024 USTFCCCA NJCAA West Region Male Indoor Field Athlete of the Year at the athlete of the year awards ceremony on Saturday, March 2 in Gainesville, Fla.

NMJC assistant track and field/sprints coach Tabarie Henry was named the men's and women's 2024 USTFCCCA NJCAA West Region Indoor Assistant Track Coach of the Year at the same awards ceremony.

The Thunderbirds will begin the outdoor season March 15-16 in Canyon, Texas at West Texas A&M in the Spring Break Classic.