The Hamline Elite Meet: What To Expect

Boys Sprints


Short Sprints

Two words, one name: Joe Fahnbulleh.

Last year, Fahnbulleh made his first major impact over the state when his long, loping strides left the field in his dust in the 200m and 4x200m relay, and he helped Hopkins bring home a 4x100m title as well by running their third leg. He eventually went on to shatter the All-Time State 200m record and win a national championship in his age group at the USATF Junior Olympics. This year, he will be absent from the 200m at Hamline while he focuses on the two shorter relays and seeks out his first 100m dash title. Hopkins is the top seed and strong favorite in both relays, and have already run the third-best 4x100 relay in state history even though there is still a month and a half left in the season.

That's not to say that Fahnbulleh won't face some solid competition in the 100m. While defending State 100m champion Ethan Peal sadly will sit out this year, Fahnbulleh will face a challenge from Maple Grove's Evan Hull, Jordan's Marlon Wiley, and Alexandria's Drew Olson. Last year, Hull was runner-up to Peal for the State 100m Class AA championship, while Wiley is the two-time defending Class A champion in the event. Olson, meanwhile, has looked very sharp so far this year and has already run his personal-best time 10.82, which is the second-best seed in the field after Fahnbulleh. Mounds View's Nick Sharma can't be overlooked either as he is coming off his strongest meet of the season and owns a wind-aided personal best of 10.69, while a strong wild card is Rochester Century's Samuel Amusan, who experienced a massive breakout meet two weeks ago at the Dean Bishop Invitational. In Fahnbulleh's absence in the 200m, each of those five runners will be doubling in the 200m to attempt to take the crown there as well.


Long Sprints

In the 400m dash, after the graduation of most of Minnesota's top talent, there is a it of a power vaccum as no particular athlete has yet stood out and established themselves so far this year. That could very-well change after this meet, however. The meet's two top seeds of Kevin Andres and Julian Wright both return from All-State performances in 2018, and Asahi Kuroki is in the midst of a massive rise up the 400m charts after his personal best topped out at 52.27 before this year. The big dark horse is Logan Lommel, the longtime mid-distance runner from Apollo who ran his first open outdoor 400m ever on Tuesday this week and finished in 50.61. But as is often the case in power vaccums, if there is a surprise individual winner in any event on the boys side in this whole meet, it will probably be here.

As for the boys 4x400m competition, there will certainly be a new champion after last year's winners from Mounds View did not enter a team, and it could be pretty much anyone. Hopkins and Prior Lake both have proven talent on their squads as half their legs are in the open 400m race, while Becker is anchored by Andres and Rochester Century rill run Samuel Amusen and Brainerd's All-senior lineup is led off by standout hurdler Zach Henke. However, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the top two seeds are Edina and St. Louis Park, two teams who have so-far accumulated zero State appearances as sprinters before this year either on relays or as individuals. Certainly, this will be anyone's race.


Hurdles

As for the boys hurdles, the two biggest names to watch who are doubling-up in both events are Brainerd's Zach Henke and Mounds View's Josh Thomsen. Henke is an established star who was 6th at State in the 300m hurdles last spring and owns the top seed in the 110 hurdles and best career-best time of 14.91. Thomsen, on the other hand, is just a sophomore who is quickly establishing himself as a force long into the future as the top overall seed in the 300h and second-seed in the 110h. The third athlete who is doubling-up in the hurdles is Owatonna's Keenon Young, who has been a model of consistency this year so far and is poised for a breakout on the big stage.

Other serious threats to win in the 110h include Hopkins talented sophomore George Jackson and Andover's returning State-qualifer Jorge Olivo Cabrera. As for the 300h, Mounds View's Josh Sampson has the fastest career-best time of 38.46 and finished 3rd in Class AA last spring, but has started the season off cautiously due to some tightness in his hamstring (which is why he is not entered in the 110h despite being the defending State champion in that event), and the rest of the field is full of others of up-and-coming talent.

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