By Zim Sport Live Writer
Top Zimbabwean sprinter Makanakaishe Charamba has been named the Southeastern Conference Runner of the Week following his record breaking breaking performance for Auburn University at the weekend.
The Southeastern Conference widely regarded as the most challenging Division I conference in US collegiate track and field, consistently producing top-level athletes and close competitions across various events.
Following up on his memorable run to the final at the Paris Olympic Games, Charamba further enhanced his status as one of the top sprinters in the elite division by bagging the coveted SEC Runner of the Week award for the first time in his collegiate career.
Competing in his fourth meet for the Auburn University Tigers this season, Charamba posted a time of 20.16 in the 200m to take gold at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina, smashing the Zimbabwe national record in the process.
Compatriot Tapiwanashe Makarawu of the University of Kentucky followed closely in second with a season best of 20.31 seconds.
His time is the world’s fastest indoor 200m time of the year and the eighth fastest 200m ever.
Charamba’s 20.16 broke U.S. Olympian’s Coby Miller’s previous record of 20.50, set in 2000.
The Harare, Zimbabwe native delivered the fastest 200m ever by an SEC runner in the regular season.
Up Next, Charamba and the Tigers will be back in action on February 27 – March 1 for the SEC Indoor Championships in Bryan-College Station, Texas.