T-Bird (M-Track) Set to Compete at Indoor Nationals

The Thunderbird men's track & field team will make a short trek across the state line to Lubbock, Texas March 7-8 for the 2025 NJCAA Indoor T&F Championships at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.

"Before our first meet I indicated that we intend to compete for national championships," men's track & field head coach Terry VanLaningham said. "The season has resulted in seven new school records and 58 new all-time top ten marks resulting in us having 31 event entries in the meet. I believe we are positioned well and ready for the championships."  

The road to nationals was far less travelled this year compared to the 2024 NJCAA Indoor T&F Championship in Gainesville. The Thunderbirds are No. 2 in the USTFCCCA Track & Field Men's Rating Index as they head into nationals.

"Our staff has messaged since early last fall about preparing to be the best competitor possible when it matters the most," Coach VanLaningham said. "We will see how prepared we are because it matters the most this weekend. I am excited to watch us compete and see how good we are. It will be a two day, 20 event battle and I am confident every team member will battle to the end." 

The T-Birds have 22 athletes and three relay teams competing on Friday and Saturday. 

The below finishes are adjusted for altitude and are not raw times. A tidbit for Thunderbirds fans to know is that NMJC is only able to enter three athletes per event.  

The men's track side is spearheaded by sophomore sprinter Bovel McPherson. The Chudleigh Manchester, Jamaica native is ranked No. 1 in the 400m with a converted time of 46.04, which is .42 seconds in front of second place. McPherson owns the school record in the race with a raw time of 45.93. The outdoor national runner-up in the 400m will also compete in the 200m where McPherson ranks No. 6 with a time of 21.05. 

David Nyamufarira is competing in the 60m and 200m this week in Lubbock. The freshman is the school record holder in the 60m with a time of 6.59 (6.57 raw). The finish ranks No. 2 in the NJCAA and is .03 seconds behind first place. Nyamufarira second event at nationals is the 200m where he ran a 21.00 in the race to rank No. 4 in the NJCAA.  

Benjamin Nsiah workload at nationals includes the 200m and 400m. The freshman slots in at No. 2 in the NJCAA in the 200m with a time of 20.94. The Kumasi, Ghana native ran a 46.64 in the 400m earlier in the season to rank himself No. 3 in the NJCAA for the event.  

January enrollee Romain Toth will compete in the 800m where he owns the school record in the event with a time of 1:50.74. The freshman is ranked NJCAA No. 4 in the race. Sophomore TK Pahuwa is the third and final 400m runner starting. The Harare, Zimbabwe native is ranked No. 4 in the NJCAA for the event with a time of 47.00.   

Adolf Kauba will race in the 600m for his first appearance at nationals. The Papua New Guinea native time of 1:19.31 sits at No. 12 in JUCO. 

Ezekiel Newton is competing in the 60m at nationals for the second time in his career. The sophomore sprinter ran a career-best 6.74 in the race to put himself No. 13 in the NJCAA for the event.  

Alexandre Fablet was another January addition for NMJC this year as he is set to compete in the 3000m and the mile. The Frenchman's 3000m time of 8:18.29 is No. 16 in JUCO while his mile time is 4:10.37 (NJCAA No. 22).

Shamarie Roberts competes in his second indoor nationals Friday. The sophomore sprinter is races in the 60m where he ranks No. 17 in the NJCAA with a time of 6.75. Hurdler Ralfs Zazerskis slots in his first indoor nationals at No. 18 with a time of 8.11 in the 60mH. 

Sophomore Cyprien Bille will race in the 1000m after clocking a time of 2:30.42 to rank No. 29 in the NJCAA. The 3000m will feature Brian Cheruiyot who is NJCAA No. 36 with his time of 8:31.64 in the race.  

Erwan Darrieulat is the final athlete out on the track this weekend. Darrieulat ran a 1:54.97 in the 800m to nationally qualify and rank No. 42 in JUCO.   

The field athletes are led by Mawali Osunniyi and Samuel Ospina who each rank No. 1 in their respective events.

Osunniyi comes into nationals ranked No. 1 in the high jump by .07m. The sophomore transfer owns the school record in the high jump with a leap of 2.17m and will be competing in his first national event in junior college.

Freshman Samuel Ospina has made quick work in his short time in Hobbs. The January enrollee set the school record in the pole vault with a clearance of 5.11m which slots him into the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA by .21m.  

Johnathon Rodgers is qualified in both the long jump and the triple jump. Rodgers recorded a mark of 15.35m to rank No. 4 in JUCO and is No. 8 in the NJCAA with a long jump of 7.37m.

Josh Sweetnam competes in both the shot put and weight throw in Lubbock. The shot put school record holder is No. 8 in JUCO with a throw of 16.82m. The freshman throws 15.85m in the weight throw to put him in 14th place in the NJCAA for the event.  

Sophomore Joao Dalandrea competes at nationals holding the No. 8 spot in the NJCAA for the weight throw where he mustered a toss of 16.70m. 

Ilias Arifi has a full slate this week with the heptathlon and pole vault. The freshman's score of 4795 is No. 6 in JUCO for the heptathlon and he ranks No. 12 in the NJCAA in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.41m.  

The final qualified athlete is Jonathan Da Silva. The freshman transfer met the national standard in the heptathlon with 4744 points to hold down the No. 8 spot in the NJCAA.  

There will be one white card entry from NMJC. The white card is essentially a wild card selection for an athlete who did not qualify for nationals and each team receives three entries to use. 

The Thunderbirds will use a white card on Raheim Scott. Scott has primarily run in the 400m and will be stretching out to the 600m for the first time in competition this week.  

The T-Birds will compete in three relays in Lubbock. The members fluctuate so what is listed here may be different come race time.

The first squad will compete in the distance medley relay and are ranked No. 6 in the event with a time of 9:58.94 (Cyprien Bille, Chevoney Reid, Romain Toth, and Alexandre Fablet …Adolf Kauba).

In the second relay, the Thunderbirds are ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA for the 4x800m with a composite of 7:33.00 (Cyprien Bille, Romain Toth, Erwan Darrieulat, Adolf Kauba …Nathan Bonavida).  

The Thunderbirds rank No. 2 in the NJCAA for the 4x400m relay, the final race of the weekend, with a time of 3:08.10 (TK Pahuwa, Benjamin Nsiah, Raheim Scott, Bovel McPherson …Chevoney Reid).

"I and our staff believe in our team, and we will see this weekend how much they believe in themselves," Coach VanLaningham said. 

The meet on Day 1 will start with the heptathlon at 9 a.m. CST and end with the 1000m around 8:20 p.m. CST. Day 2 starts with the heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. CST and ends with the 4x400m relay around 4:30 p.m. CST. 

For the full schedule click here, for live results click here, and for the livestream of the events click here.