Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
BARELY a week after Makanakaishe Charamba made the headlines with an impressive Paris 2024 Olympics show —United States of America-based, and former Baring Primary and Hillcrest College learner, Panashe Nhenga — has been recruited into the Ivy League institutions.
In fact, Nhenga is one of the very few, if not the first Zimbabwean track athlete, to be enrolled at an Ivy League institutions.
Nhenga will also be raising the country’s flag high at the World Junior Championship at the end of this month.
Charamba is also an ex-Hillcrest learner.
Ivy League admissions only take well-rounded students, great in and outside the class, and technically, this means an athlete who can run 100 metres under 10 seconds can still not make the grade into the Ivy League universities.
The eight Ivy League universities include Harvard University (Massachusetts), Yale University (Connecticut), Princeton University (New Jersey), Columbia University (New York), Brown University (Rhode Island), University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania), Dartmouth College (New Hampshire) and Cornell University (New York).
Most Zimbabweans who have been recruited into the Ivy League institutions are basically just bookworms, and swimmer, Donata Katai is one of the few athletes who have made it into one of these prestigious institutions.
Nhenga said: “The Ivy League is a group of eight prestigious private colleges and universities in the North-eastern United States, known for their academic excellence, selectivity, and social elite status, and therefore being recruited in one of these institutions is a great honour for me.
“All the institutions in the league are ranked in the Top 20 in the world, and have acceptance rates less than seven percent. Attending the Ivy League, means I am going to receive the best academic education in the world, and still be competing in track at Division One level.
“Therefore, if turning pro in athletics in the future does not go as planned, I will still have a degree from a prestigious academic institution that I can use.”
The 19-year-old speed merchant will be studying Chemical Engineering at Cornell University in New York.
Nhenga will be representing Zimbabwe in the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru from August 27 to 31.
“I qualified in both the 100 and 200m, but I have opted to run the 100m only in Peru. My goal is to go and give my best, have fun and just finish the championships healthy.
“Qualifying to the finals will be a bonus. I have competed at the World Champs before, so I am a bit mentally strong when it comes to these big stages,” he said.
The former Baring Primary and Hillcrest College athlete took part in the World Junior Championship held in Colombia 2022 where he was the youngest 100m athlete, and bowed out in the heats.
In a separate interview, National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president, Tendai Tagara said: “This is the first time in 30 years to field more than four athletes for the World Junior Championships, and for the first time we have managed to field a relay team.
“We just hope they will reach the semi-finals or even beyond. The future is good as most will be going for scholarships after Lima.”
