The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Re[orter

bstubbs@trobinemedia.net

LEEVAN ‘Superman’ Sands is heading back to school. This time, it’s to be inducted into the Barton County Community College Hall of Fame.

Accompanied by his oldest son, Leevan III, Sands will be heading to Great Bend, Kansas, on Saturday to join four other persons who will be enshrined in the 3pm ceremony on the lower level of the Kirkman Activity Centre on the Barton campus. The inductees, however, will not be presented with their plaques until halftime of the men’s feature game between Barton County and Cloud County Community College.

“It’s a great accomplishment for me. I’m excited to be able to go back there. I haven’t been back there since 2002,” said Sands in an interview with The Tribune. “So it will be great to go back to my alma mater and see how things have changed and stuff. So I’m excited. I’m just happy to be recognised by the school.”

The induction ceremony was initiated in 2000 and has been held every year with the exception of 2010 when a Hall of Fame reunion coincided with Barton’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

The honour comes two years after Sands was inducted into the Hall of Fame at his former high school at Florida Air Academy. Sands, 32, left Temple Christian Academy where he excelled as both a basketball player and a versatile track and field athlete, who competed in the sprints and the jumps.

“It’s a great honour. It’s just an honour to see that I’m being honoured for all of my achievements,” said Sands, who is presently recuperating from a knee injury that he sustained in competition in the men’s triple jump final at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

After he graduated from Florida Air Academy High School, Sands was enrolled in Barton County from 2000-2002. He graduated with an associate degree in general studies and on the track, he inked his name in the Bahamian record books with his leap of 57-feet, 5-inches that erased Frank Rutherford’s previous mark.

Since then, Sands has increased his national record to 17.59m when he competed at the Olympics in Beijing, China, in 2008.

• SEE THURSDAY SPORTS FOR SUPERMAN’S ROAD TO RECOVERY