Smoky Mountain Today

The Carson-Newman Eagles captured three national championships in three days. Track and field’s Makanakaishe Charamba and women’s swimmer Manon Compagner took first place in their respective national competitions.

Charamba brought home a gold medal and a national title, cruising to a facility record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.55 seconds, Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

Charamaba becomes the track and field program’s third national champion, joining Larry Cooke (Long Jump, 1978) and Tanner Stepp (High Jump, 2018). Charamba now holds the second and third fastest recorded times in NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships history. 

“I’m truly so impressed by Makanakaishe,” said C-N track and field coach David Needs. “He started off the day with a not as good a start as he wanted in the 60-meter dash, but he came back. That is what champions do, and he was able to come in to the 200-meter dash final with a confidence that was amazing and helped him become a national champion.”

Some 730 miles away in Indianapolis, Indiana, C-N women’s swimmer Manon Compangner was busy making her own statement for the Eagles, capturing two national titles in two events at the 2023 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships.

Compagner won a national championship in the women’s 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.45 seconds on Thursday. She followed that with winning the national title in 100-yard freestyle two nights later with a time of 48.97. She tallied five All-American swims at the championships.

Since the program was created in 2013, no swimmer had been atop the podium at nationals as she became the swim program’s first national champion for either the men or the women. The senior now holds the only two national championship trophies for Carson-Newman swim.

“Manon, I mean holy smokes. What an incredible swim and incredible journey for her. She has come in and continued to grind it out and stay true to the process. She’s stayed true to herself. It really shows that hard work, dedication, and trusting what is being put in front of you will work,” head swim coach Ben Young said. “It’s just fantastic to watch her, and she’s meant a lot to this team over the last four years.” 

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