SAC Track & Field Athletes and Coaches Sweep USTFCCCA Southeast Region Awards

NEW ORLEANS – Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year for the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field season were announced on Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) following the conclusion of the season. The SAC swept the Southeast Region awards, represented by athletes and coaches from Carson-Newman, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Limestone.

The Regional award winners are as follows:

Men's Track
SOUTHEAST REGION – Makanakaishe Charamba – Carson-Newman
Charamba, who hails from Harare, Zimbabwe, swept the short sprints at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships and helped the runner-up 4×100 relay team. He went a wind-aided 10.02 in the 100 meters and followed that up with a windy 20.19 in the 200 meters. Earlier in the season, Charamba clocked a wind-legal 10.15 at the Texas Relays, which equaled the seventh-fastest performer in NCAA DII history.

Men's Field
SOUTHEAST REGION – Lloyd McCurdy – Limestone
McCurdy, who hails from Georgetown, Guyana, finished third in the triple jump at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a wind-aided PR of 15.88m (52-1¼). He did a unique triple at the SAC Outdoor Championships where he won the triple jump, finished third in the long jump and placed seventh in the javelin throw for 18 team points.

Men's Coach
SOUTHEAST REGION – David Needs – Carson-Newman
Needs, in his 26th year as Director of Track & Field at Carson-Newman, led the Eagles to a seventh-place finish at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships with 32 points, just 2.5 points out of fourth place. Carson-Newman had two qualifiers in the 100, 200 and 400 and won two events at the DII Championships with Makanakaishe Charamba's sweep of the 100 and 200. The Eagles totaled nine All-American awards.

Men's Assistant Coach
SOUTHEAST REGION – Kieran Showler-Davis – Carson-Newman
Showler-Davis, in his fourth year as associate director of Carson-Newman, coached Eagle sprinters and hurdlers to six individual entries to the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships. His top athlete, Makanakaishe Charamba, swept the 100 and 200 and ran on the runner-up 4×100 team. Two additional athletes also scored as his athletes accounted for all 32 points by Carson-Newman in finishing seventh as a team.

Women's Track
SOUTHEAST REGION – Alexis Brown – Lenoir-Rhyne
Brown, who hails from Mableton, Georgia, finished top-5 in both the 100 meters (second) and 200 meters (fifth) at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She is the 11th-fastest performer in NCAA DII history in both of those events at 11.34 and 23.11, respectively, from marks that she recorded at the Southside Power & Fitness Invitational.

Women's Field
SOUTHEAST REGION – Kadidja Sangare – Carson-Newman
Sangare, who hails from Alphen Aan Den Rijn, Netherlands, was the highest finishing athlete from the region in any field event at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships with her sixth-place showing in the long jump. She earned First-Team All-America honors thanks to a PR effort in that event with a leap of 6.11m (20-0½). 

Women's Coach
SOUTHEAST REGION – Kevin Paterson – Lenoir-Rhyne
Paterson, in his fourth year as head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, led the Bears to a 23rd-place finish at the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the highest finish in program history. Lenoir-Rhyne also finished as runner-up in the SAC Outdoor Championships, winning six events. The Bears earned seven All-American honors, also a program high and their top athlete, Alexi Brown, was national runner-up in the 100 and earned Co-SAC Track Athlete of the Year and SAC Freshman of the Year honors. 

Women's Assistant Coach
SOUTHEAST REGION – Seandell Davis – Lenoir-Rhyne
Davis, in his fourth year as associate head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, coached the Bears' Alexis Brown to a runner-up finish in the 100 at the NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships. His athletes earned seven All-American honors and nine All-Region selections in addition to winning four events at the SAC Outdoor Championships.