Men's Track and Field | 7/14/2026 12:00:00 PM

Greenwood, Indiana – Following a remarkable four-year career, Namu Makatiani of the Oberlin College men's track & field team earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Second-Team honors, announced by the CSC on Tuesday afternoon. 

Competing in his first collegiate event in December 2022 at the Spartan Holiday Classic, Makatiani placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 13.46m. From that point on, the Kenya native evoked one of the most successful careers in Oberlin track & field history. 

Earning a trio of All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors between the indoor and outdoor seasons, Makatiani competed on the national stage in his first year with the Crimson and Gold, just one of two rookies in the field during the 2023 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. The following season, the Biology major earned his first conference title in the triple jump at the 2024 NCAC Indoor Championships. Defending his conference title during the outdoor season, Makatiani collected his first All-America honor with an 11th-place finish in the triple jump, earning Second-Team recognition. 

Winning his fifth conference title in the triple jump with a personal-best mark of 14.91m during this past indoor season, Makatiani earned his fifth trip to the national stage. Placing seventh overall with a mark of 14.82m at the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, with three All-America Second-Team accolades under his belt, the Kenya native finally earned All-America First-Team recognition. 

Amassing 20 triple jump individual victories during his career, Makatiani graduates as a four-time All-American with 13 All-NCAC honors, five NCAC titles, nine All-Region accolades, and three CSC All-District awards. With personal bests of 14.91m and 14.72m in the indoor and outdoor triple jump, 8.13 in the 60m hurdles, and 14.56 in the 110m hurdles, Makatiani holds four Oberlin men's track & field records. In addition to all of his achievements on the track, Makatiani spent numerous hours involved with the local Oberlin community as well as his hometown community in Nairobi, Kenya, earning a spot on the Allstate National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Good Works Team for Winter 2025-26. 

"The second-to-last time that Namu broke the school record in the hurdles, I happened to be walking by a couple of his friends on campus as the live results app flashed his time. I let them know what he had just done, and they exclaimed, 'Of course he did!'" Head Coach Ben Wach adds. "This honor is such an appropriate way for Namu to wrap up his athletic career at Oberlin—it's impressive, rare, and difficult to achieve, which in Namu's case means 'Of course he did.'"

"We are beyond thrilled for Namu to receive this award. He has rewritten our triple jump and high hurdles records, both indoors and outdoors, and has cemented himself in Oberlin Track & Field history. That he was also able to be so successful academically and so involved with the community is a testament to his very hard work and the amount of care that he puts into everything he does and into the people he does it with," Assistant Coach Izzy Alexander continues. 

In the 74-year history of the CSC Academic All-America program, Makatiani is only the third scholar-athlete from the Oberlin men's track & field program to earn CSC Academic All-America honors since Stephen Williams earned Second-Team accolades in 2012 and Andrew Bent earned Third-Team laurels in 1983, both of whom were fellow biology majors. 

Keep up with the Crimson and Gold on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and watch every home game on the Oberlin Sports Network online or on Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV.