Kim Kayler Clemmons is most dominating high jumper in WBU history

Kim Kayler Clemmons has considered herself an underdog her entire life, including the time she spent at Wayland Baptist University as a record-setting high jumper. At 5-foot, 3-inches, Clemmons' height wasn't typical for a high jump participant. "Typically, everyone I jumped against was 5-8 to over 6-foot. I was always the shortest. It got pointed out a lot," she said.

But in addition to being short (one of her nicknames was "Spud"), Clemmons could flat-out jump (another nickname was "Frog.") "I could jump up and touch the (basketball) net when I was really little. Jumping just came natural. I've always been springy." So springy, in fact, that Clemmons' name – three decades after she competed – still dominates the WBU high jump records.
 

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(NOTE: Kim Kayler Clemmons will be inducted into the WBU Athletics Hall of Honor – along with Brad Bass, Todd Jeffress, Dr. Sylvia Nadler and Joe & Freda Provence – at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 inside the Pete & Nelda Laney Center. Admission is free. Live streaming at www.wbuathletics.com/watch.)

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Clemmons grew up in Halfway, a tiny farming community 15 miles west of Plainview. Adopted as a child, she said she was the only sporting person in her family. "I had to take piano and baton twirling, but my dad let me play Little League." She began blossoming as a high jumper in junior high and high school, after discovering basketball wasn't her sport. "I was terrible in basketball, but I ended up making the squad. They kept me around because I could run."

She began focusing solely on track & field after her freshman year at Plainview High and turned into a real student of the sport. "I was really nerdy and loved reading. My mom would drop me off at the library and I'd read books on high jumping and plyometrics (jumping training). I really got into it."

Competing against the biggest schools, Clemmons regularly placed in the top three at high school meets. My highest jump in high school was 5-4, but there were several in our district that could jump that. I was decent, but I never really did that well in high school."

With intentions to attend Angelo State on an academic scholarship and walk onto the track team, Clemmons was working out at WBU's Hilliard Field when she crossed paths with then WBU track coach John Creer. After just a brief visit, Creer was sold, and so was Clemmons. "Before I knew it he talked me into coming to Wayland. He offered me some track money along with academic aid. Wayland had a much better track program (than Angelo State). There were Olympians. I jumped at the chance to go there."

The decision to attend Wayland and stay close to home turned out to be a blessing in that it allowed Clemmons to stay in closer contact with her terminally-ill father. "My dad died at the end of my freshman year. God was looking out for me to get to stay right there."

About the same time, Kayler lost another important male figure in her life when Creer decided to leave Wayland. Taking his place would be Rick Beelby. "Coach Creer was like our dad. We were all so upset he left (that) we probably didn't give Coach Beelby the nicest welcome." But Clemmons changed her tune when she saw how much Beelby, whom she called a "track and field scientist," was helping her improve in the high jump.

"I didn't get really good until Coach Beelby got here. He changed everything I was doing in the weight room, and I got so much faster and springy. I was stronger than ever because of his workouts. Once I saw how I was changing, I knew he was legit and good for me."
 
While Beelby's workouts were effective, they weren't easy. "The warmups we did were harder than some of my high school workouts. But I enjoyed it. I loved training and working out and I love being exhausted," Clemmons said. "Coach Beelby taught me a lot about physiology and biomechanics. I think at first he thought I was questioning him and his coaching, but he realized I was really just interested in the whys and hows of what we were doing."
 
A third coach – not affiliated with Wayland – also played a brief but impactful role in Clemmons' success while also providing one of her most memorable moments. Wes Kittley, the current head track coach at Texas Tech, was coaching Abilene Christian University in 1989. In February of that year, Clemmons was competing at The Daily Oklahoman Track Meet (at which Creer also happened to be with his new school, Missouri Baptist) along with ACU.
 
"Abilene Christian always had loads of high jumpers, many of whom I had befriended since we attended a lot of the same meets. Coach Kittley was in the stands, as close to the high jump as was allowed, and his jumpers were all visiting with him before we began. I was close by, so I just stood in the group and listened. As the competition progressed, I kept joining the group between bar changes, and at around 5-7 Coach Kittley told me that I needed to speed up my last three steps if I was going to clear the bar. I was surprised to get some specific advice, but I did what he said and cleared it.
 
"Then the bar went to 5-9ish, and I went back over with the two remaining ACU jumpers. He gave me more advice, and I cleared that bar, setting my first personal record and school record. Then the bar went to 5-11¼ and he gave me more coaching, and I cleared it! Then, there were no ACU girls remaining in the competition, only me and a jumper from Texas A&M. It seemed awkward to go back over and get help, but Coach Kittley kept helping me. To this day, I still remember everything he taught me. I'm not sure why any coach would help another athlete compete against his own, but Coach Kittley was a class act and I will never forget that day."
 
That 5-11¼ mark still stands as Wayland's indoor record, while Clemmons set the WBU outdoor record of 5-11¾ the following year as a senior at a meet at the University of New Mexico. Not only does Clemmons top the list of all-time best marks at WBU, hers is the only name among the school's top 10 indoor and outdoor marks.
 
Clemmons logged six of her eight all-American honors in the high jump, placing sixth, fifth and third before taking second at her final three national meets. She said she is OK with never winning a national title in her specialty.
 
"I always said I was the winner of all the losers," she joked. "But really, no, I have no bitterness. I jumped as high as I possibly could – nearly six inches over my head – and I knew I put it all out there. Latrice Johnson, from Azusa Pacific (Calif.), beat me every time, and she placed fourth in the Olympic Trials in 1988. She was over 6-feet tall. Her coaches told me they secretly were rooting for me. Apparently, she wasn't the hardest worker, and they wanted her to be pushed. I have no regrets about my training because I worked hard all the time."
 
Speaking of nationals, Clemmons said those competitions – at which she helped Wayland win a team title indoors in 1988 along with three runner-up titles – were memorable for a variety of reasons, including Wayland's fan presence. "We had the best following. Emmitt Tipton, Danny Murphree and those guys rode the bus with us to nationals. They loved to follow the track team. That was neat."
 
While she devoted most of her time at Wayland to the high jump, she also competed in cross country her freshman season. "Pee Wee Halsell (who has spent 33 years as track coach at Western Washington University) was the cross country coach, and he talked me into running cross country. It was miserable, but I survived it."
 
Clemmons also competed some in the long and triple jumps, although once she started high jumping over 5-10 regularly she competed almost exclusively in that event. About the only time Clemmons got on the track was her junior year. "We had so many sprinters…Devon Morris, Alrick Munroe. It was very intimidating at first. We had so many sprinters I wasn't really needed. But we had some people leave (school) close to the national championships. We were on the plane going to nationals and Coach Beelby told me they needed me in a couple of the relays. I had to learn how to take handoffs." Clemmons held her own, helping the sprint medley relay team to a national title and the 4x100-meter team to a national runner-up finish.
 
Clemmons might have been considered an underdog, both as a sprinter and even a vertically-challenged high jumper. But that's OK. "I've always been an underdog my whole life, so didn't mind it."
 
Today, Clemmons – who earned a bachelor's in education degree from Wayland in 1990 then went on to secure two master's degrees at Texas Tech in exercise & sport science and counseling – maintains her interest in track and field. After an extended hiatus, she recently returned to coaching the sport she loves at Lubbock Roosevelt ISD, where she has spent the past 24 years as an English teacher and junior high counselor.
 
Clemmons also still high jumps herself. "For the past three years I've been competing in Senior Olympic and Masters track and field. But I don't have the springs I used to have. Once you hit 50…"
 
Clemmons – who with husband Tom has a 15-year-old son, three stepdaughters and five grandchildren – said being inducted into the WBU Athletics Hall of Honor is special. She thanked current WBU track coach Brian Whitlock for his efforts in recognizing her and other former track & field athletes at the school which she said "you don't fully appreciate until you're gone. I am super appreciative of WBU and my experience and time there, but didn't realize how truly special it was until I went out into the real world.
 
"I can't even imagine putting me in the same group with (former teammates and NAIA Hall of Famers) Denise Williams and Devon Morris. When you look at what those people have done... . It's very humbling and a huge honor. I can't even wrap my head around the fact I deserve that."