By Jacob Norling
June 2, 2021
 
(NEW ORLEANS, La.) Westmont's Zola Sokhela continues to make headlines following his historic performance at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. On Tuesday, Sokhela was announced as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association 2021 NAIA Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.
 
"Winning this award is something I did not expect," said Sokhela. "Even with my performance at nationals, this is still very surprising."
 
As a freshman, Sokhela led Westmont men's track & field to their highest placing in program history (4th) after winning national championships in both the 800 meter run and the 1500 meter run. Sokhela entered the NAIA Outdoor National Championships as the number one seed in both races and refused to withhold his ranking, running the 800 in 1:50.08 and the 1500 in 3:58.50 to claim both titles.
 
Sokhela, amazed at his early success, said, "I'm still a freshman so I still have a lot to learn and gain. If this is what I can do within a few months of being in the states, I can only imagine what the future has in store."
 
Sokhela also served as Westmont's anchor for the 4x800 relay, and during the final race he took the baton while the team was in sixth place. When he crossed the finish line 800 meters later, the team was in second place, nearly a second off from being national champions.
 
Perhaps the most underappreciated aspect of Sokhela's performance was his willingness to lay it all on the line for the betterment of his team. Originally, once Sokhela and the relay team qualified for the 4x800 finals, Zola was meant to rest during the relay finals in order to be at his strongest during his individual races. But hours before the race the group of men gathered together, realizing their ever so rare opportunity to achieve something that no Westmont team had done before.
 
And so the men convinced Westmont head coach Russell Smelley to allow Sokhela to run the relay with them. The 4x800 relay did not stop Sokhela from winning two national championships the next day. And the points the men received for their second place relay, along with Seth Wilmoth winning the pole vault national championship, was enough to bring the 4th place trophy to Westmont College.
 
"This award is not just for me" said Sokhela of the Athlete of the Year honor. "This is for my coach, training partners, team, and everyone who supports me. There is a lot more to come."