Hall of Fame
The first Kenyan distance runner to compete in the United States, Machooka became the first black student-athlete to earn first-team All-Ivy League honors in cross country after winning the Heptagonal Championship and leading Cornell to a team victory in 1961. He won the IC4A cross country title a few weeks later at Van Cortlandt Park in two inches of snow, slush and mud and set a Franklin Park course record in Boston. Machooka set the Cornell mile record as a freshman in 1961 (4:10.8), bettering the mark of legendary John Paul Jones by more than four seconds. Machooka won the Heps freshman cross country race. His 1961 Cross Country performances resulted in him being featured on the cover of "Track & Field News" after dominating the East Coast Cross Country scene, and he was also featured in the New York Times. Circumstances changed after his sophomore year, and Machooka needed to work to pay his expenses and was urged by an academic advisor to spend less time running and more time with his courses. He still competed, but he took several long layoffs, and in 1962 contracted mumps and went several months without running. He returned for the 1963 Outdoor Heps and nearly claimed the title, running a 4:10.5 mile. That summer included a final flash of success, as Machooka joined the Penn-Cornell team in England to face Oxford-Cambridge when he won both the 880-yard (1:51.1) and mile runs (4:16.6). He gave up competitive running before his senior year to concentrate on his studies and graduated in 1964. Machooka was inducted posthumously into the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2012.
