The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH there’s a lot of pressure competing against each other for the crown of the most versatile track and field athlete, Ken Mullings and Kendrick Thompson don’t allow that competitive edge to get in the way of their friendship outside of the sporting arena.

Over the few years, the 24-year-old duo have emerged as the two decathletes in the country, switching up as the national record holder in the grueling ten-event discipline that is split up over two as they competed under the University of the Bahamas Mingoes Track and Field banner.

This past weekend, the rivalry continued at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational where Thompson came through in the end with another Bahamian national record and University of the Bahamas collegiate record with a 105 point advantage over Mullings, the former double record holder.

Thompson, now in his senior year at UB, clinched the title with 7,762 points, erasing his previous mark of 7,734, while Mullings, who is still a student studying education, but no longer eligible to compete for the Mingoes, was second with 7,657.

They both were aiming to qualify for the World Athletics’ 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 15-24, but fell short. However, they attained the standards for the other international meets, including the Commonwealth Games to be staged in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8.

“I started the first day by getting over 4,100 points for the first time of the competition, so that was a good time,” Thompson said. “I wanted to do better in the 100m, but it wasn’t that competitive. The shot put and the 400m helped me to get out. But on the second day, the 1,500m took everything out of me.”

Known for his strength in the sprinting events (100m, 110m hurdles and 400m) as well as the throws (shot, javelin), Thompson said where he tends to fall down on his weaker events, Mullings normally motivates him to do better.

“We are very close. We just messed up in a few events like the discus,” he said. “But we push and motivate each other. We talk and create goals together. We hope to become the first Bahamian decathletes to go away to compete with 8000 points each. Hopefully we will get there. But in the next competition, we should be over that mark.”

Even though he would have liked to have competed much better, Mullings, now competing for, said he felt good about his performance, considering that it was just the first decathlon competition for the year.

“My weak events are his strong events and my strong events are his weak events, so we really push each other, even if the other competitors are not there to push us,” Mullings said.

“My strong events are the high jump, the hurdles, the 100m because of my new PR and the shot put where I just threw a big performance. But events like the long jump, javelin and 1,500m are my weakest events and that was where I got beat this weekend.”

Thompson, who is studying physical education at UM, said it’s all about having fun.

“If I’m weak in one event, he would come over and encourage me and if he’s down in an event, I do the same for him,” Thompson said. “At the end of the day, we know it’s all about the competition. But we help each other out.”

With their competitive nature, Thompson said once they can go back to the drawing board and improve on some of the areas that they fell down on, they should be in a better position to achieve some of the goals they set at the beginning of the season.

“One of my goals is to qualify for the World Championship and the Commonwealth Games and to hopefully win the gold,” said Thompson, who thanked his parents, his cousins, his coach (Ednal) Rolle, Mingoes Athletics and God for blessing him with the talent to compete.

While there are plans for Mingoes Athletes to compete in another collegiate meet before the Bahamas Association of Athletic Association’s Nationals in June, Mullings is also hoping to compete so that he can improve on his performance with the hopes of both of attaining the World Championships standards.

“In the meantime, I have to try to find a way to manage my energy going into the pole vault,” he said. “When I competed in the pole vault, my legs were dead, so I probably have to try to come in at a higher height so I won’t lose so many points like I did in this meet.”

He said they both had planned to qualify for World’s at the meet, but after getting off to a great start when they were right on target, they fell short on the final day.

Mullings thanked his new throwing coach Aymara Albury for helping him to improve on his techniques, while coach (Ednal) Rolle continued to work on the other aspects of the discipline.

As for his rivalry with Thompson, Mullings said as long as they are competing, they will continue to push each other.

“We bring more excitement to practice, but there’s more pressure in competition,” Mullings said. “When you know he’s beating you in practice in certain events, it takes a mental toll on you. But it makes you stronger in practice and in competition.”

Their coach Ednal Rolle said training partners Thompson and Mullings constantly push each other to the limit. He noted that they complement each other.

“They both got off to a great start on day one, but day two didn’t go as expected,” Rolle said. “We will go back to the drawing board and assess their performances and we can only build from here.

“We wanted 8,000 points, but we fell short. It would have put us in a good position to get on the international rankings going into the World Championships, but it’s still early in the season, so hopefully they will qualify.,”

Looking at the performances, Rolle said Thompson was able to garner enough points in the pole vault and held off Mullings with a strong performance in the 1,500m to improve on his national record feat and the collegiate record in the process.