The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Kenya Culmer just wasn’t satisfied with the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) national indoor women’s high jump record. She wanted her name on the outdoor record as well.

After posting the indoor record earlier this season, Culmer bounced back on Saturday to add the outdoor mark to her résumé with her victory at the 2012 State Farm MVC Outdoor Division One Track and Field Championships in Wichita State, Kansas.

“I feel great. I am so happy and excited,” said Culmer in an interview with The Tribune. “I was very surprised that I got it. I knew I could do it but I didn’t know that I would get it now.”

Culmer, a sophomore at Southern Illinois, was referring to clearing 1.81 meters or 5-feet, 11 1/4-inches that shattered the previous national record of 1.79m that Judy McDonald did in Nassau on July 11, 1991.

It was one of two victories secured by Bahamians at the meet. The other came from her cousin Douglas Palacious, who clinched the title in the men’s triple jump, while settling for third in the long jump.

For Culmer, she noted that her ability to follow her coaches’ (including Bahamian James Rolle) instructions and apply herself in the competition was what brought out the best in her.

“It feels so great just to know that I’m a record holder,” Culmer said. “I don’t think it has hit me yet. When I broke the national record indoors, I didn’t feel it until a few weeks later. So to do it for a country, wow. I only used to think that people like Debbie (Ferguson-McKenzie) and Chris (Brown) could break those records. So when I first did it, I was very thrilled. Now to do it again, I’m just speechless, even though I set out to get this one too.”

Culmer is now gearing up for the regional championships and eventually the nationals.

“I’m going to try my best and if I make it, I would be very proud,” said Culmer, who is just shy of the qualifying height of 1.92m (6-3 1/2) for the B standard for the 2012 London Olympics.

“This weekend, I knocked down 6-1 1/2, so it’s pretty close. It’s pretty closer than I think. I just have to do a little more work in practice and hopefully I can get over the height.”

Joining Culmer as conference champion was Douglas Palacious after he cleared 15.77m (51-9) to nip out Ernest Rollins, a senior at Indiana State who trailed with 15.76m (51-8 1/2) for second.

Palacious, a junior, also got third in the long jump with his leap of 7.21m (23-08) on his fourth attempt.

Dan Karys, a junior at Drake, won with 7.34m (24-01) while Austin Bahner, a sophomore at Wichita State, was second with 7.31m. (23-11 3/4).

Also at the meet was Printassia Johnson, a freshman at Illinois State, who qualified with the eighth fastest time of 11.97 in the 100m preliminaries and finished sixth in 12.26.

And in the 200 prelims, Johnson ran 24.39 for the seventh fastest time. She duplicated the position but ran much slower in a time of 26.92.

Johnson also ran the second leg on Illinois State’s 4 x 100 relay team that clocked 45.55 for second behind Missouri State, who won in 44.90.

At another meet, Raymond Higgs soared 8.36m (27-5 1/4) to win the men’s long jump to lead a field of Bahamians at the Southeastern Conference Championships (SEC). His nearest rival was Tavarus Christian, a senior at Mississippi State, with a leap of 7.70m (25-3 1/4).

Ivanique Kemp, a junior at Arkansas, had the second fastest time of 13.20 in the 100 hurdles heats with Krystal Bodie, a senior at Auburn, coming in fifth in 13.50.

In the final, Kemp got second again in 12.25 as she crossed the line behind Jasmin Stowers, a sophomore from LSU, in 12.96. Bodie was sixth in 13.54.

The women’s 200 saw Nivea Smith make the final but the Grand Bahamian didn’t post a time. Smith, a senior, also ran 11.49 for a tied eighth spot in the preliminaries of the 100 before she ended up eighth in 11.51.

V’Alonee Robinson, a sophomore at Auburn, didn’t get out of the women’s 100m preliminaries after she finished 10th in a time of 11.54. Robinson, however, was also seventh in the women’s long jump with her leap of 6.23m (20-5 1/4).