Tomas Vega Wins Steeplchase National Title
The NMJC men's track & field team added four more All-Americans and a national champion on Day 2 of the national meet in West Monroe, LA.
The Thunderbirds ended the second day of the NJCAA DI Men's Outdoor T&F Championships in third place with 36 points. Iowa Western is in first place at 52 points and Barton holds the No. 2 spot with 51 points.
Tomas Vega came through for the T-Birds winning the national title in the steeplechase. The sophomore from Argentina finished in 8:56.10 to win his first individual national title in track. Vega avenged last year's runner-up finish in the steeple with the victory Saturday.
NMJC assistant track coach Jeff Becker said was impressed with the resolve Tomas had going into the final lap.
"Coming into the last lap there were still six runners stacked up," Becker said. "Tomas and Siyabonga Mokgothu from Cloud County started pulling away with 300m to go and then they were neck and neck going into the last jump and Tomas' water jump was just so much better and he pulled away. German's water jump was great as well and he ended up outsprinting the Cloud County guy to finish in second place."
German Vega finished runner-up in the race with a time of 8:56.96. What distinguished the two brothers from the competition was how well they cleared the jumps each time.
"The steeple is Tomas and German's favorite race to run," Becker said. "Obviously, they are tough, and they ran well, but they were so much better over the steeple barriers than everyone else."
Tomas and German are the heart of the men's track & field program and their leadership on the track is what makes teammates and fans alike gravitate to the twins.
"When they were running, our whole team was out there lined up on the curve of the track yelling for those guys so it was exciting," Becker said.
Tomas has accounted for 16.5 points and German has tallied 13 points thus far. The two brothers are responsible for 29.5 of the teams 36 points.
Thrower Joao Dalandrea placed eighth in the discus with a throw of 51.49m. The All-American finish earned NMJC a point to add to their team total. Braden Shaw had the best performance of his season on Friday. Shaw cleared 4.52m in the pole vault to earn himself an All-American finish in eighth place.
Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu qualified for two event finals in the 100m and 200m on Friday afternoon. Makarawu is first overall in the 100m seeding after running a 10.23. He is second in the 200m race after running a 20.54. The sophomore sprinter is set to compete in the 100m at 2:10 p.m. CDT and the 200m at 3:10 p.m. CDT.
The Thunderbirds will have a trio of athletes make the 400m finals. Donald Chiyangwa is first overall following the prelims. Chiyangwa ran a 45.95 to advance. Bovel McPherson is second overall headed into the finals with his time of 46.29. Aymane El Haddaoui is back in the outdoor 400m finals for the second straight year. El Haddaoui was the fourth-best finisher at 46.61.
Sophomore Alex Keter advanced to the 800m final earlier in the day after running a personal-best 1:51.64 to qualify for finals in fifth place. Jumper Jonathan Rodgers will compete in the triple jump Saturday. The second to last event will feature Tomas and German as they compete in the 5000m where German finished outdoor national runner-up in 2024.
The T-Birds qualified for the finals in the 4x100m with a time of 40.22. NMJC also qualified for finals in the 4x400m relay with their 3:09.16 finish.
NMJC is seeking their first back-to-back outdoor title in program history come Saturday, May 18.
