Ntobeko Ntusi '98 left his native South Africa to attend nearby Lower Merion High School for his junior and senior years. While his first sport was ballroom dancing, at which he became a champion of the Transkei while still in high school, his athletic prowess at Haverford was showcased on the men's cross country and track & field teams.
As a member of the cross country team, Ntusi won the Centennial Conference Individual Championship during the 1997 season and finished as the runner-up at the Mideast Regional. He graduated as just the fourth person in program history to compete at four NCAA Cross Country Championships for the Fords and still stands as one of only 12 runners to reach that milestone in program history. He was additionally a four-time All-Centennial Conference runner and three-time all-region honoree throughout his cross country career. Those performances helped the Fords capture four conference and regional championships while placing in the top 10 three times at the NCAA Championships.
On the track, Ntusi was an indoor conference champion in both the mile and 4x400 relay during his senior campaign. He would additionally win individual gold medals at the outdoor conference championships in both the 1,500 meters and the steeplechase while competing on back-to-back 4x400 and 4x800 meter championship relays. To this day, Ntusi's marks are among the best in school history as he is third in the 400 meter hurdles, sixth in the steeplechase, and eighth in the indoor 1,500 meters. He and his teammates still hold the indoor 4x800 relay school record over 15 years after that mark was originally set in 1996.
His versatility in multiple events served him well as he qualified to the indoor national track & field championships in the 1,500 meters during the 1995 season where he placed ninth overall. Two years later, he returned to the indoor national championships in the 800 meters and took home the bronze medal to go along with All-America accolades. Ntusi was also a three-time national qualifier during the outdoor season, earning two more All-American certificates with a third-place finish in the steeplechase in 1997 and a seventh-place finish in the 1,500 meters during the final race of his decorated career.
Following his standout career with the Fords, Ntusi was selected to receive the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship which he used to study medicine in his native country. Ntusi was a double major at Haverford in both biology and sociology. In addition to the postgraduate scholarship, Ntusi earned four major Commencement prizes from Haverford College as his national-level athletic feats, scholarship, and leadership certainly were certainly of the highest caliber.
After his graduation from Haverford, Ntusi used his postgraduate scholarship to receive his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) Medicine from University of Cape Town in South Africa. He also holds a Fellowship of the Colleges of Physicians of South Africa studying at the College of Medicine of South Africa, a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil); Cardiovascular Medicine from St. Cross College at the University of Oxford, a Specialist, Doctor of Medicine (MD); Cardiology from the University of Cape Town, and a Certificate in Cardiology from the College of Medicine of South Africa.
Presently, Professor Ntusi is a cardiologist, a Professor of Medicine and is the Chair and Head of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. He serves as the Clinical Lead for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) at UCT and GSH. He is also the principal investigator based at the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa and the Cape Universities Body Imaging Centre.
Throughout the month of February, the Haverford College athletic department will be spotlighting former Black student-athletes, featuring their successes both as athletes and after their graduation in celebration of Black History Month.