Florida sophomore Joseph Fahnbulleh, a former Hopkins High School star, won the 100-meter dash in 10 seconds and the 200 in 19.83 on Friday night in the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Ore.
Former Hopkins runner Joseph Fahnbulleh wins 100, 200 for Florida in NCAA track meet
Fahnbulleh also ran the anchor leg on the Gators' 4x100 relay, which placed second. His big meet helped Florida win the team title.
June 11, 2022 at 5:26AM
He was the defending champion in the 200 and had finished seventh in the 100 last year.
Fahnbulleh also ran the anchor leg on the Gators' runner-up 4x100 relay, helping them win the team title with 54 points. Texas was next (38).
This was Florida's fifth outdoor national title but first since 2017.
"Get out quick, get out fast, go forward," Fahnbulleh said, describing his running philosophy after the 200 in an interview on ESPN2.
Fahnbulleh, the son of Liberian immigrants who grew up in Hopkins, ran for Liberia in the Tokyo Olympics last year and placed fifth in the 200.
• The Gophers' Alec Basten, a graduate student from Green Bay, Wis., took seventh place and teammate Matt Wilkinson eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Basten, the runner-up a year ago, finished in 8:23.86, Wilkinson in 8:25.03.
Kaleb Siekmeier, a third Gopher, placed fifth in the discus (196 feet, 10 inches).
Westrum gets national award
Pat Westrum, a former Gophers hockey player from 1967 to '70, was given the Walter Yaciuk Award in Denver by USA Hockey for his "outstanding contribution to the organization's coaching education program during many years of service as a volunteer."
Westrum is currently coach-in-chief for Minnesota District 6.
Evidence exists that some recent Grand Turkeys changed their behavior after receiving the prestigious honor. Inspired, The Chairman declares this the Make the Turkeys Great Again era.
