SE: Right On Beat, Alcine Continues to Climb
Jan 21, 2022 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
It began with the drums. In between those breathtaking sunrises and sunsets in Nassau, Bahamas, Kyle Alcine sat playing his drums. He played to block out the violence, he played to escape the poverty, but mainly, he played the drums because he enjoyed the familiar feel, the cadence, and the rhythm. A lot of talented kids ended up in jail or dead.
Across the island, Kyle was known for his drums.
"It was a great getaway," he begins. "That was my thing. That's when I really started representing the Bahamas. I was in the Bahamas All-Star Band. Drums were my passion.
"I left the Bahamas and went to Edward Waters College on a band scholarship. Most people don't know that. I went one semester. I loved music but I didn't like carrying the drums and how long we had to practice. I went back to the Bahamas. One day, I was playing basketball. My coach said, 'You can really jump.' So, I began to train."
The cadence remains inside Kyle today. He enjoys life with a ceaseless beat inside of his head. Each step is in line with a tempo. Every stride before attacking a task carries a familiar rhythm. The boy once known for his drums is now known for something very different in Manhattan, Kansas. Kyle spent two years at Cloud Community College, he enters his third season at Kansas State, and, well, he's not only one of the best high jumpers in the Big 12 Conference — he's one of the best high jumpers in the NCAA.
Kyle is a 22-year-old fifth-year senior chasing a dream. He hopes to become a professional high jumper. Last Friday, he cleared 2.19 meters at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular at Anshutz Sports Pavilion in Lawrence. That currently ranks No. 3 in the NCAA, trailing only K-State teammate Tejaswin Shankar (2.25m) and Texas Tech's Trey Culver (2.22m). It's the same height that Kyle cleared for the bronze medal in December at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia.
Yes, the high jump has taken Kyle places. At age 17, he also cleared 2.19 meters to set the Under-18 National High Jump record on July 23, 2017 in Trujillo, Peru.
Now he's a member of the K-State's historic men's high jump fraternity, which is referred to in track and field circles as "High Jump U" by virtue of its national and international excellence under Cliff Rovelto, who is regarded as one of the top high jump coaches in the world.
"It's something you can only dream about," Kyle says. "When you hear 'K-State,' you hear, 'High Jump U.' You want to come here. You don't just want to be a high jumper, you want to put on a stellar performance. You want to make Coach Rovelto proud. I want to leave as one of the top high jumpers at K-State, blow my mind by work hard, and see how high I can jump. That's my goal this last season. I want to go above and beyond, take the next step, and wow myself."
The question becomes this: Is there pressure? Heck, yes, there's pressure. There's freshman Kamyren Garrett, junior Devon Richardson, and, of course, TJ Shankar, a native of New Delhi, India, who set the Indian national record in the indoor high jump and became the fifth freshman in history to win the outdoor high jump at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Shankar once cleared 2.29 meters. Kyle feels pressure while training some of the best high jumpers in the country right in his own backyard. Yet there's a brotherly love among the jumpers. Never any animosity.
But there's one enemy. It's the crossbar.
"I always tell myself, 'The bar isn't my friend,'" Kyle says. "That's my motivation. I always tell myself, 'The bar isn't my friend.'"
There are times before practice that Kyle escapes to McCain Auditorium to maintain his balance. He disappears into a music room and jams for 15 minutes. He says that it soothes his mind. He says that it relaxes him for practice. He doesn't think about the high jump. He thinks about the music. Then he continues to play drums in his head when he makes his approach toward the crossbar.
"I have a rhythm inside my head when I'm attacking the bar," he says. "I keep a beat. That's how I think of the high jump. I put music to everything I do. I think of the high jump as me playing drums."
The possibilities are endless.
"He has gifts, no question," Rovelto says. "He's made really remarkable improvement in the last couple of years. He's capable of jumping, five or seven centimeters higher, which would put him in much rarer company from a collegiate perspective. Now he has to do it. There's no reason why physically he can't do it. Right now, it's a barrier in terms of approaching a higher bar the same way you approach a 2.19 bar."
And that's the war. Kyle versus the crossbar. It's more mental than physical, Kyle suggests. He has the physical ability. Now it's about performing mentally. "You have to block that mental state," he says. And that's where the drums come in, blocking out any doubt, making the jump feel just right — "the bar isn't high, it's just an illusion," Kyle tells himself — so that he attacks the crossbar with confidence, right on beat.
Although K-State returns to Manhattan for the Austra Skujyte Women's Pentathlon, Steve Fritz's Men's Heptathlon and DeLoss Dodds Invitational at Ahearn Field House on Friday and Saturday, Kyle focuses on the Texas Tech Invitational next Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, which will feature some of the nation's best competition. He wants to stay in the top 5 heading toward the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
"I just want to go out with a bang," he says.
Kyle can't help but become emotional as he reflects upon his path. His mother Rochelle and grandmother Emamae Wright raised him. They made sure he had clean clothes. Grandma Wright made him breakfast every morning. A lot of talented kids ended up in jail or dead.
He wasn't one of them.
After a hopeful professional career, he intends to return home to help give children a chance to live out their dreams as well.
"My passion is kids, so I want to open an outreach center for at-risk kids," he says. "I came from an at-risk high school, one of the worst high schools in the Bahamas. Violence was a big thing. My school always got closed down. I want to go back and have a voice and tell kids that they can get a great education at a Division I school in the United States. I want to use my story to help them personally and academically through an afterschool program. I have plans for my life."
Several years ago, he never envisioned anything like this.
"I just always thought about music," he says. "It's a great getaway. I wanted to be a musician, but God had a different calling for my life. For me, it's all about high jumping at K-State. I don't go out and show my different talents. But that's what got me started — music."
That familiar beat appears destined to take him many more places.
It began with the drums. In between those breathtaking sunrises and sunsets in Nassau, Bahamas, Kyle Alcine sat playing his drums. He played to block out the violence, he played to escape the poverty, but mainly, he played the drums because he enjoyed the familiar feel, the cadence, and the rhythm. A lot of talented kids ended up in jail or dead.
Across the island, Kyle was known for his drums.
"It was a great getaway," he begins. "That was my thing. That's when I really started representing the Bahamas. I was in the Bahamas All-Star Band. Drums were my passion.
"I left the Bahamas and went to Edward Waters College on a band scholarship. Most people don't know that. I went one semester. I loved music but I didn't like carrying the drums and how long we had to practice. I went back to the Bahamas. One day, I was playing basketball. My coach said, 'You can really jump.' So, I began to train."
The cadence remains inside Kyle today. He enjoys life with a ceaseless beat inside of his head. Each step is in line with a tempo. Every stride before attacking a task carries a familiar rhythm. The boy once known for his drums is now known for something very different in Manhattan, Kansas. Kyle spent two years at Cloud Community College, he enters his third season at Kansas State, and, well, he's not only one of the best high jumpers in the Big 12 Conference — he's one of the best high jumpers in the NCAA.
Kyle is a 22-year-old fifth-year senior chasing a dream. He hopes to become a professional high jumper. Last Friday, he cleared 2.19 meters at the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular at Anshutz Sports Pavilion in Lawrence. That currently ranks No. 3 in the NCAA, trailing only K-State teammate Tejaswin Shankar (2.25m) and Texas Tech's Trey Culver (2.22m). It's the same height that Kyle cleared for the bronze medal in December at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia.
Yes, the high jump has taken Kyle places. At age 17, he also cleared 2.19 meters to set the Under-18 National High Jump record on July 23, 2017 in Trujillo, Peru.
Now he's a member of the K-State's historic men's high jump fraternity, which is referred to in track and field circles as "High Jump U" by virtue of its national and international excellence under Cliff Rovelto, who is regarded as one of the top high jump coaches in the world.
"It's something you can only dream about," Kyle says. "When you hear 'K-State,' you hear, 'High Jump U.' You want to come here. You don't just want to be a high jumper, you want to put on a stellar performance. You want to make Coach Rovelto proud. I want to leave as one of the top high jumpers at K-State, blow my mind by work hard, and see how high I can jump. That's my goal this last season. I want to go above and beyond, take the next step, and wow myself."
The question becomes this: Is there pressure? Heck, yes, there's pressure. There's freshman Kamyren Garrett, junior Devon Richardson, and, of course, TJ Shankar, a native of New Delhi, India, who set the Indian national record in the indoor high jump and became the fifth freshman in history to win the outdoor high jump at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Shankar once cleared 2.29 meters. Kyle feels pressure while training some of the best high jumpers in the country right in his own backyard. Yet there's a brotherly love among the jumpers. Never any animosity.
But there's one enemy. It's the crossbar.
"I always tell myself, 'The bar isn't my friend,'" Kyle says. "That's my motivation. I always tell myself, 'The bar isn't my friend.'"
There are times before practice that Kyle escapes to McCain Auditorium to maintain his balance. He disappears into a music room and jams for 15 minutes. He says that it soothes his mind. He says that it relaxes him for practice. He doesn't think about the high jump. He thinks about the music. Then he continues to play drums in his head when he makes his approach toward the crossbar.
"I have a rhythm inside my head when I'm attacking the bar," he says. "I keep a beat. That's how I think of the high jump. I put music to everything I do. I think of the high jump as me playing drums."
The possibilities are endless.
"He has gifts, no question," Rovelto says. "He's made really remarkable improvement in the last couple of years. He's capable of jumping, five or seven centimeters higher, which would put him in much rarer company from a collegiate perspective. Now he has to do it. There's no reason why physically he can't do it. Right now, it's a barrier in terms of approaching a higher bar the same way you approach a 2.19 bar."
And that's the war. Kyle versus the crossbar. It's more mental than physical, Kyle suggests. He has the physical ability. Now it's about performing mentally. "You have to block that mental state," he says. And that's where the drums come in, blocking out any doubt, making the jump feel just right — "the bar isn't high, it's just an illusion," Kyle tells himself — so that he attacks the crossbar with confidence, right on beat.
Although K-State returns to Manhattan for the Austra Skujyte Women's Pentathlon, Steve Fritz's Men's Heptathlon and DeLoss Dodds Invitational at Ahearn Field House on Friday and Saturday, Kyle focuses on the Texas Tech Invitational next Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, which will feature some of the nation's best competition. He wants to stay in the top 5 heading toward the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
"I just want to go out with a bang," he says.
Kyle can't help but become emotional as he reflects upon his path. His mother Rochelle and grandmother Emamae Wright raised him. They made sure he had clean clothes. Grandma Wright made him breakfast every morning. A lot of talented kids ended up in jail or dead.
He wasn't one of them.
After a hopeful professional career, he intends to return home to help give children a chance to live out their dreams as well.
"My passion is kids, so I want to open an outreach center for at-risk kids," he says. "I came from an at-risk high school, one of the worst high schools in the Bahamas. Violence was a big thing. My school always got closed down. I want to go back and have a voice and tell kids that they can get a great education at a Division I school in the United States. I want to use my story to help them personally and academically through an afterschool program. I have plans for my life."
Several years ago, he never envisioned anything like this.
"I just always thought about music," he says. "It's a great getaway. I wanted to be a musician, but God had a different calling for my life. For me, it's all about high jumping at K-State. I don't go out and show my different talents. But that's what got me started — music."
That familiar beat appears destined to take him many more places.
Players Mentioned
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