By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

From the time he enrolled in Northwestern State University, Abner Johnson said his goal was to break Perry Adderley’s Bahamian national record in the men’s weight throw. Now in his senior year for the Demons men’s track and field team, Johnson finally did it.

It came over the weekend as Johnson led a Bahamian contingent of Tarajh Hudson, Bernesha Knowles and Carmitra Mackey in the Southland Conference Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama, this weekend. 

Johnson, 23, threw 58-feet, 43/4-inches or 17.20m for seventh in the men’s weight throw with Hudson, his 22-year-old team-mate, tenth with 55-03/4 (16.78m). 

Terrell Webb, a senior at Southeastern Louisiana, had the winning toss of 77-06 (23.62m).

With his performance, Johnson erased the previous national record of 17.57m that was set by Adderley on December 8, 2018 at the K-State Winter Invitational in Manhattan, New York.

“It was a long time coming. I was trying to do this for four years, so this was a sweet moment,” Johnson said. “For the first two rounds, I was out of the competition because I was in 13th place and the top nine went into the final.

“But on my third throw, I broke the record. So that was a clutch moment for me. I prayed and asked God to get me to the final and in that third round, he did it for me.”

It was a bitter-sweet moment for Johnson because while he was elated to have achieved the record, he was a little disappointed that he didn’t throw further to get up higher in the final standings.

“I still have next year, so hopefully I can improve on it and even go for the victory,” projected Johnson, who hopes to take advantage of the new NCAA rule that allows student-athletes to get another year back.

On Monday, Johnson and Hudson were back in action as they competed in the men’s shot put. While Johnson placed eighth with his best heave of 51-031/3 (15.63m), Hudson was 10th with 49-11 (15.21m).

Reflecting on his performance, Johnson said it was “below my ability” because he’s usually a 16-metre thrower, but he had his share of problems this season.

“Hopefully outdoors, I will catch on,” he said. “I am looking forward to making some of our national teams this summer.”

Johnson, the son of Jasmine and Sheldon Johnson, is the cousin of Olympic and world 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo. He is a health and human performance major who aims to become a collegiate level coach.

In wrapping up his performance, Hudson, who like Johnson are graduates from St Augustine’s College, admitted that he did the best he could.

“I remained consistent and did my best in both events as I led the competition after my flight. However, I missed the finals in both events by one spot,” he summed up.

“It was my last indoor conference so it was bittersweet, but I look forward to being able to focus on the discus, which is my main event (outdoors).”

He is the son of Taraseta and Oral Hudson and is a health and exercise science/pre-physical therapy major who would like to attend grad school following completion of undergrad.

Knowles, also a senior at Northwestern State, threw 54-071/2 (16.65m) for fourth place. The winning throw was 66-011/2 (20.15m) by Cyan Grean, a junior at Texas A&M.

“I threw to the best of my ability, which was 16.65m, but it just wasn’t my day,” said the 22-year-old Knowles. “That is what sports is all about.”

Not every day will be a great day, but for the entire