February 15, 2025

Tigers shatter school records, post nation’s top times during historic weekend

Auburn track and field delivered one of the program's best regular season performances in school history with a record-breaking weekend as five student-athletes etched their names in the school record books with two posting national-leading times while competing at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina and the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts.

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn track and field delivered one of the program's best regular season performances in school history with a record-breaking weekend as five student-athletes etched their names in the school record books with two posting national-leading times while competing at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina and the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts.

Breaking school records included senior Makanakaishe Charamba (men's 200m), sophomore Max Hardin (men's mile), sophomore Ja'Kobe Tharp (men's 60m hurdles) and Alyssa Quinones-Mixon (women's pole vault). Sprinter Israel Okon set Auburn freshman records in the men’s 60m dash, giving the Tigers five program marks over the two days.

Competing at the Clemson University Indoor Complex, Charamba ran an impressive 20.16 on Saturday to post the world’s fastest indoor 200m time of 2025 and the world’s eighth fastest indoor 200m ever. His 20.16 was the nation’s top collegiate time of the season and broke US Olympian Coby Miller’s previous school record of 20.50, set 25 years ago in 2000. The Harare, Zimbabwe, native’s 20.16 was the seventh fastest in collegiate history and fastest ever by an SEC runner in the regular season.

On Friday evening, Tharp ran three of the eight fastest 60m hurdle times in AU history, including a 7.53 in the finals to break Shamar Sands’ 22-year-old school mark of 7.59 set in 2003. The sophomore sensation’s incredible time is the No. 3 time in the NCAA this season and a time that would have won 16 of the last 24 NCAA indoor championships in the event.

Quinones-Mixon cleared 4.44m/14-6.75 to break the program’s record in pole vault, breaking a nine-year-old school record of 4.40m set by Jessie Johnson in 2016. The junior’s 4.44m won the pole vault invitational competition in Clemson and was 12th nationally and in the country and second in the SEC this season.

One of seven distance runners racing in Boston, Hardin crossed the finish line in the men’s mile in 3:57.67, shattering the previous school mark of 3:58.28 held by Ryan Kinnane. Competing against some of the best competition in the country, Hardin became the first miler in Auburn history to run two sub-four-minute miles, with both coming in 2025.

Auburn’s sprints unit also made waves in the men’s 60m as sophomore Kayinsola Ajayi ran the NCAA leading time in the semifinal round in 6.51, just one hundredth shy of equaling the school record. Ajayi, who had the fastest time of the day in both the preliminary (6.58) and semifinal round moved into the world’s No. 3 time in 2025.

Ajayi was joined by freshman Israel Okon and junior Azeem Fahmi who ran record-setting times of 6.52 and 6.60, respectively. Okon’s 6.52 in the semifinal round was the Auburn freshman school record and the world’s second-fastest U20 time ever. A native of Asaba, Nigeria, Okon’s time is the NCAA’s No. 2 time behind Ajayi and the No. 4 world indoor time this year. Fahmi, meanwhile set the Malaysian national record in the event and moved into the top 10 on the AU performers chart in the event with his 6.60 ran in the semis.

The standout performances over the weekend were across the board for the Tigers as 20 individual collegiate bests were established with 18 school top 10 times or marks. Five performances were among the top 16 nationally, that if stand, would meet the threshold for NCAA Championship qualifying.

Also competing in Boston over the weekend, sophomore Camila Gomes ran 4:37.95 in the women’s mile for a new PR while coming up just five tenths shy of the program record of 4:37.41. Junior Gene Coetzee delivered a major PR in the women’s 3000m, shaving 14 seconds off her previous best, running a 9:10.81, good for third on the Tigers’ all-time performers list. Senior Cooper Atkins meanwhile ran an impressive PR of 4:02.42, good for eighth in the AU performers list.

Auburn throws had strong outings, including an event win from junior Megan Hague in the women’s shot put with a personal best mark of 16.86m/55-3.75 good for third all-time on the school performers list. Senior Maura Huwalt was third with a toss of 15.96m/52-4.5. In the men’s weight throw invite section on Friday, senior Kyle Brown was third overall after a heave of 22.39m/73-5.5.

Closing out the weekend, the quartet of Vimbayi Maisvorewa, Zuriel Reed, Ashantae Harvey and Deborah Oke ran the school’s fourth fastest 4x400m relay time in program history, crossing in 3:33.63. Over the last 20 years, it was the second fastest run by an Auburn women’s relay indoors.

Next Up

Auburn will take a week off and return to competition for the SEC Championships Feb. 27 - March 1 in Bryan-College Station, Texas.

Tiger Paw Invitational

Clemson University Indoor Complex; Clemson, South Carolina

February 14-15, 2025

Men’s Results

60m Hurdles Prelims