By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

KENNY Moxey Jr is hoping to become the next Bahamian to excel in the men’s decathlon.

Following in the footsteps of his father, mentor and coach, Moxey Sr, Moxey Jr will be making his debut on his first senior national team at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships this weekend in Grand Bahama.

He will be competing in the 10 events over the two days of competition at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on Saturday and Sunday along with national record holder Kendrick Thompson.

“I am dealing with some minor health issues, but I am very confident about competing in the event this weekend,” said Moxey Jr, who started competing in the multi-event competition from the Youth Central American and Caribbean Championships.

“As this is my first senior national team, I just want to go out there and show them that I am not just a good junior athlete, but I could be a very competitive senior athlete as well.”

With a personal best of about 6,000 points accumulated in the competition, Moxey Jr said if he can surpass that and score close to the 7,000-point range, he will be thrilled.

“I just want to go out there and compete and gain a lot more knowledge about the event,” said Moxey Jr, who currently attends the University of Mary in North Dakota.

The 18-year-old computer information systems major said he’s made the necessary adjustments to competing at college in the event, as he transitioned from competing just in the pole vault and or the javelin.

“I always had a knack for doing different events. I started off doing the long jump and high jump and a little bit of throws,” he recalled. 

“I eventually became a hurdler.

“My father was a pole vaulter and he got me to try it out and I got stuck on it. I made my first CARIFTA team doing the pole vault, so I felt I should just go into the multis because I could do just about every event.”

Moxey Sr said he’s been pleased with the progress his son is making.

“He’s been dealing with some challenges at school, so now that he’s home, we’re trying to see how we can make the adjustments,” Moxey Sr said.

“He loves the vault and he loves the high jump, but we both feel that he can be a great multi-competitor. So this meet this weekend in Grand Bahama will be great for him to see where he’s at against some top-notch competitors.”

At the meet, Moxey Sr said it would be great if Moxey Jr can qualify for the 2026 World Junior Championships by scoring more than 6,500 points.

“Even though it’s a senior meet, they can do the conversion,” said Moxey Sr, who also competed in the multis while he attended the University of Missouri.

Looking at his performance so far in the multis, Moxey Jr admitted that if there’s anything he needs to work on, it’s the more technical events like the discus, pole vault and the javelin.

Moxey Sr concurred, noting that it’s something they can work on with a little bit of competition.