Bradley Makuvire continues to dazzle for cross country
Zimbabwe native Bradley Makuvire sets his focus on the Cross Country Championship at Southeastern Louisiana University in February of 2021.
Southeastern cross country has had a successful year so far and much of that success has been on the legs of junior Bradley Makuvire. The Zimbabwe native has been on fire, securing wins in all four races this season.
On Oct. 29, Makuvire and his teammates traveled to Corpus Christi, Texas for the Southland Conference Championships. Makuvire’s familiarity with the Lone Star State came in handy as he finished in first place with a time of 24:11:44 in the men’s 8k.
The star runner said he would first like to give thanks to his coach back home, Steven Phire.
“Zimbabwe was really nice. I had a good coach who started coaching me when I was 12 years old. He helped me a lot,” Makuvire said.
Makuvire initially moved to America in 2019 to El Paso, Texas. Once there, he attended El Paso Community College for one year. He then transferred to Southeastern in 2020 running in two races finishing top ten in both. This earned him All-Southland 2nd team honors as well as being named part of the LSWA All-Louisiana Team.
His first victory of the season came at the LSU Invitational 6k where he posted a time of 18:45:33. This was 24 seconds faster than the rest of the field, earning him Southland Cross Country Athlete of the week on Sept. 21.
Makuvire’s second victory transpired in Thibodaux at Nicholls Invitational, where he blew away the competition in the 4-mile race recording a time of 20:25:33. This was 34 seconds quicker than second place further showing his dominance on the year as he was yet again awarded Southland Cross Country Athlete of the Week for Oct. 5.
His third win came in Clinton, Miss. at the Watson Invitational. He zoomed to his third straight first place finish boasting a time of 23:50:8 in the Men’s 8k run. This time crushed the closest competitor by a whopping 88 seconds, while also helping SLU place third out of 22 schools. Makuvire’s outstanding results didn’t go unnoticed, as he received USTFCCCA National Cross-Country Athlete of the Week on Oct. 11.
His ascension has been rather fast in 2021 much like his running. One key to this has been the team’s new track and field Assistant Coach Clayton O’Callaghan.
Makuvire said, “Our new Coach Clayton has worked very well for me.”
As the wins pile up Makuvire’s confidence keeps growing.
He said, “My goal is to make it to nationals.”
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Chase Gispert is a communication major with a concentration in sports communication. He joined The Lion’s Roar in March of 2021 and now serves as sports...
