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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 29322, member: 2262"] Zimbabwean sprinter Makanakaishe Charamba has become a hero at Auburn University. The track star earned the 2025 SEC Men's Runner of the Year award on Wednesday. Reports from Birmingham, Alabama, shared that Auburn also celebrated freshman Israel Okon as SEC Men's Freshman Runner of the Year. Both athletes have made major impacts on the team this season. Charamba ran the 200m dash in just 20.13 seconds to win the SEC title. His amazing time stands as the fastest indoor 200m recorded anywhere on earth this year. The performance ranks as the seventh fastest ever in world history. He broke both the SEC Indoor Championships record and the Texas A&M facility record with his blazing sprint. Auburn hasn't seen a winner in this event since American Olympian Coby Miller back in 2000. Charamba has set the five fastest 200m times ever recorded at Auburn. He made history as the first male athlete from the school to receive the SEC Runner of the Year honor for any season. Auburn track coach Leroy Burrell praised his star runner's incredible achievements. Coach Burrell pointed out how rare it is for anyone to run three races under 20.20 seconds during indoor season. Freshman teammate Okon also shined by running 6.51 seconds in the 60m dash prelims. That tied a 24-year-old world Under-20 record set by British sprinter Mark Lewis-Francis back in 2001. Okon had the fastest time during prelims, matched the best NCAA time this year, and broke the Auburn freshman record. Okon finished with silver in the finals, running 6.55 seconds. Charamba earned First Team All-SEC honors, with Okon making Second Team All-SEC. The men's team placed sixth overall at the meet – their best finish since 2013. Their 47 points marked the highest team score since 2011. These achievements show the program's strong improvement. Both speedsters later competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach. Each earned First Team distinctions and helped the men secure third place overall. Charamba took silver in the 200m with a time of 20.16 seconds, Auburn's best finish in that event since Miller won the national title back in 1999. Okon grabbed second place in the 60m dash with a time of 6.52 seconds. He became the first Auburn freshman to qualify for the 60m at indoor nationals since Harry Adams did it in 2010. Auburn has won back-to-back indoor Freshman of the Year awards after Kayinsola Ajayi claimed the honor last season. SEC coaches voted on all these prestigious awards. Nine Auburn athletes received All-America honors after their performances at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The US Track & Field and Cross Country Association announced these awards on Monday. First Team honors went to seniors Charamba and fellow Zimbabwean Vimbayi Maisvorewa, sophomores Ajayi and Ja'Kobe Tharp, plus freshman Okon. These athletes all finished among the top eight in their events. The Second Team All-America awards recognized seniors Maura Huwalt and Dario Matau, junior Azeem Fahmi, and sophomore Ana-Liese Torian. These athletes placed between ninth and sixteenth in their events. Nine Auburn competitors traveled to Virginia Beach Sports Centre for the championships. The men earned their second straight trophy with third place, following their second-place finish at 2024 Outdoors. Coach Burrell credited the athletes for their success. He said they arrived with clear goals, competed hard, and positioned themselves perfectly to win that trophy. Tharp made an incredible championship debut by winning the 60m hurdles with a personal best time of 7.45 seconds. This gave the men their first individual national title since Donald Thomas won in 2007. Tharp broke his previous school record with that time. His performance ranks tied for eighth fastest globally this year. Ajayi and Okon delivered an amazing one-two finish in the 60m dash. Ajayi crossed the line in 6.513 seconds, with Okon right behind at 6.516 seconds. These sprinters achieved the best back-to-back finish ever for Auburn at NCAA nationals in this event. Charamba, the SEC 200m Indoor Champion, earned silver with his 20.16-second performance. Auburn hadn't placed this high in the event since Miller won it all in 1999. Fahmi, who earned bronze in the 60m at the SEC Indoor Championships, finished thirteenth overall with 6.61 seconds. Matau ran the 200m prelims in 20.81 seconds for twelfth place overall. Maisvorewa led the women with a sixth-place finish in the 400m, running 51.66 seconds. Born in Mutare, she made her second straight NCAA Indoor appearance. During prelims, she broke her school record with 51.51 seconds. Her performance gave Auburn its best showing in the indoor 400m since 2010. These athletes continue to elevate the program nationally. [/QUOTE]

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