Zimbabwe’s Olympian Makanakaishe Charamba was in formidable form as he scooped a gold medal in the men’s 200m event during the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Texas, United States, at the weekend.
Charamba, who held the nation spellbound when he reached the men’s 200m final during last year’s Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, was just a ball of fire in Texas.
He is currently on an athletics scholarship at Auburn University together with fellow Zimbabwean sprinter Vimbayi Maisvorewa.
And according to reports from Texas, Auburn senior Charamba and sophomore Ja’Kobe Tharp won SEC individual championships on Saturday on the final day of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships on the campus of Texas A&M.
Charamba won the men’s 200m in 20.13 seconds shortly after Tharp claimed gold in the 60m hurdles as both set meet, facility, and school records in the process. Charamba’s time was the fastest indoor 200m in the world this year.
Charamba, who was an Olympic finalist in Paris last summer for his native Zimbabwe, ran a 20.13 seconds to win the 200m title by over a tenth of a second.
Not only was his time the fastest indoor 200 in the world this year, but it was also the world’s seventh fastest time ever in the event.
Charamba’s win in the event was Auburn’s first since American Olympian Coby Miller won in 1999 and 2000. Senior teammate Dario Matau equalled his PR in the event, running 20.60 to finish fourth.
Another top Zimbabwean sprinter, Maisvorewa, was also in action for Auburn University at the same indoor championships, where she ran in the women’s 400m event.
Senior All-American Maisvorewa, who broke her own school record in the women’s 400m on Friday with a time of 51.55, placed seventh in the event in Saturday’s final, crossing in 53.22.
Maisvorewa then joined Deborah Oke, Zuriel Reed, and Ashante Harvey to finish seventh in the 4x400m relay in 3:34.06. Meanwhile, the conference outdoor champion in 2024 as a true freshman, Tharp closed strong to win in 7.48 and earn Auburn’s first gold at SEC indoors in the 60m hurdles since Ty Akins won in 2008. Tharp broke his own school record and posted the eighth fastest collegiate time ever in the event, while equalling the second fastest college time of 2025.
He joined Charamba in scooping gold at the same indoor championships at the weekend.
The two SEC championships for the men marked the first time since 2008 that the Tigers had won multiple indoor titles and the first time in 25 years that Auburn’s men won two sprints SEC titles in the same season.
Freshman sprinter Israel Okon and junior Azeem Fahmi both had podium performances in the men’s 60m, finishing second and third, respectively.
Okon, who equalled the World Under-20 Record on Saturday with a time of 6.51, ran 6.55 while Fahmi established a lifetime best of 6.56.
Sophomore Kanyinsola Ajayi, the reigning champion in the event, false started, denying his bid for a repeat title.
Auburn sophomore Alalise Torian, competing in her first SEC meet, was not intimidated, running her PB time of 8.07 to finish fourth in the women’s 60m hurdles. The Flossmoor, Ill., native posted the second fastest time in Auburn history, and his showing was the best finish for AU in the event since 2016.
Freshman distance runner Brenda Jepchirchir scored in her second event of the meet after she was sixth in the women’s 3000m, finishing in 9:14.71.
The Kenyan, who set one school and two school freshman records this season, won silver at 5k last Thursday.
Junior Alyssa Quinones-Mixon recorded five points for the women after her performance in pole vault.
The San Antonio, Texas, native cleared 4.36m to finish fourth overall, her best showing at the indoor conference championships.
Senior Rhiannon Held successfully cleared 3.96m and 4.11m on her first tries and tied for eighth in the women’s pole vault.
Junior Megan Megan Hague had her best indoor conference showing of her Auburn career as she finished fifth in the women’s shot put with a personal-best mark of 17.37m/57-0.
Her throw surpassed her previous lifetime best by nearly two feet and moved her into No. 2 on the school’s all-time performers list.
Junior Matthew Rueff recorded his best SEC indoors finish in the men’s shot put, finishing seventh with a throw of 18.56m/60-10.75 on his fifth of six attempts. The Auburn men finished sixth as a team with 47 points, while the women were eighth with 40.33 points.
It was the men’s best showing at SEC Indoors since finishing sixth in 2013 and their most points at the meet since 2011. Collectively, Auburn finished the three-day meet with two SEC individual championships, seven podium performances, two meet records, two facility records, four school records, two school freshman records, one World U20 record, one NCAA leading time, and 16 personal bests that were set or equalled.
Auburn will next compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 14-15, in Virginia Beach.
The top 16 individuals nationally in each event will advance to the championships.
The Herald
