Raising the bar
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
The next time you walk through a doorway, look up. Then imagine jumping over that height.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
It's what Punahou senior Donovan Lim will try to do when he attempts to break the state meet record of 6 feet, 9 inches in the high jump this week.
Punahou's Donovan Lim, who is 5 feet 8 and 120 pounds, jumped 6-6 at the Punahou Relays on April 30, but "was easily hitting 6-10," according to Punahou jumps coach Doug Kilpatrick.
What makes it more amazing is that if he does so, he'll jump a foot taller than his height.
"He's got more spring than anyone I've seen in my years of coaching here," said Punahou jumps coach Doug Kilpatrick, who has been coaching for 43 years.
Lim is looking to defend his state title in the high jump at the HHSAA/Island Movers Track and Field Championships at Mililani High School Stadium.
"It's one of the deepest fields we've had in a while," Kilpatrick said. "It's about time."
Lim has jumped a state-best and school-record-tying 6 feet, 6 inches this season, at the Punahou Relays, but "was easily hitting 6-10," according to Kilpatrick.
Radford's Jeremy Hayes jumped 6-4, and Punahou teammate Deryk Lim (no relation), St. Anthony's Beau Browne and Hawai'i Prep's Matthew Maze have all jumped 6-3.
Kilpatrick said if a high jumper jumps about six inches over his head, "he's doing pretty well."
Lim is jumping 10 inches over his head.
Kilpatrick
At 5-8 and 120 pounds, Lim is one of the shortest successful high jumpers in state history.
"Last year at the state meet, all the people were taller, except for one guy," he said.
Kilpatrick compares Lim to former prep athletes of shorter stature such as Iolani's current jumps coach, Grant Muroda, for Iolani in 1980, Ricardo Balidoy of Lahainaluna in the early '50s, and a pair of high jumpers from Honoka'a in the '60s.
Eugene tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
All were around Lim's height, "and these are the only short people that really did anything," Kilpatrick said. "(Hawai'i has) had tremendous jumpers, who set records, but these are all set by guys who are 6-1 and taller. What makes (Lim) so special, he's making heights that are 10 inches over his head."
Kilpatrick says Lim has more spring than anyone he has seen in his 43 years of coaching.
At last week's Interscholastic League of Honolulu championships, Lim defended his title by jumping 6-4.
He skipped attempting 6-6, and tried for 6-8, but failed. This week he will go after the state meet record set by Kris Cuaresma-Primm of Mid-Pacific, who jumped 6-9 in 1998.
"I like jumping; it feels cool making these high heights," said Lim, who is also coached by high jump coach Marc Lee. "You don't think you can jump that high, and then you do it."
Lim played baseball, basketball and soccer growing up, "but in intermediate school, there were tryouts, and most of the sports, I was too small."
He placed third in Punahou's seventh-grade track meet, which stuck in his mind his freshman year, when he began participating in track and field "because I needed a (physical education) credit."
WHERE: Mililani High School WHEN: Thursday, Saturday. Thursday's Trials — Field events at noon; Track events at 3:15 p.m. Saturday's Finals — Field events at 3:30 p.m.; Track events at 5:40 p.m. s Adults $7; Seniors (62 and older) and students (grades K through 12) $5.
His freshman year, when he was about 5 feet tall, his highest jump was 5-2. A 6-inch growth spurt the summer before his sophomore year helped him improve his jump by a foot, and he jumped 6-2 at the junior varsity championships.
WHAT: HHSAA/Island Movers State Track and Field Championships
"If you are shorter, (the bar is) just that much higher," Lim said.
He won the state title last year, jumping 6-3, a week after winning the ILH title with a 6-2 jump.
That is all with being several inches shorter than his competitors.
"Take him and make him eight inches taller and 150, 160 pounds," Kilpatrick said. "He's got a perfect high jumper's body, but he's just a reduced version of it. But he's got long legs for his body, that's what is key."
Kilpatrick called Lim "basically a diamond in the rough, in that, as coaches, we've been unable to refine his arch.
"If he chooses to jump in college and he can perfect that, there's no reason why he can't jump 7 feet. You can't coach height and you can't coach spring."
Lim will attend the University of Southern California this fall, and hopes to walk on to the men's track and field team.
He said at most colleges, the heights he jumps are good enough to make the team. But USC has two athletes who are jumping 7-4.
"I know in college, coaches will be a lot different," Lim said. "I'm pretty sure I can jump higher, but I'm just not sure how high."
Kilpatrick said the approach to the high jump is 90 percent of the jump, and they just need to coach Lim to perfect the arch in his back when he jumps.
"When he develops that, he'll go two or three inches higher," Kilpatrick said. "People have had better form and have jumped higher, but that's because they have better form or they were taller. No one has had pure spring like this kid. It's really exciting to watch."
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
