Flash back to 2019, the most successful season in Hopkins High’s boys track history.
In one memorable photo from the State Class AA Meet, Joe Fahnbulleh is gritting his teeth just before crossing the finish line in a title-clinching race at Hamline University.
Etched on his face is the burning desire to be No. 1. He wore several gold medals after winning every event he entered that day.
Five years later, Fahnbulleh is preparing to run at the Olympic Games, which get underway July 27 in Paris. He represents Liberia and his events are the 200-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay.
Fahnbulleh goes to Paris as a three-time NCAA sprint champion and the member of two national-championship teams with the University of Florida.
As a senior at Hopkins High, “Super Joe” broke all of the school and Lake Conference sprint records. Repeated attempts to get him out for football didn’t work. His thought process was, “Why risk world-class track speed by putting on the pads.”
Track is a sport based solely on time, and Fahnbulleh had the times to earn a track scholarship to the University of Florida. It is doubtful the Gators ever made a better investment.
Nick Lovas, Fahnbulleh’s head coach at Hopkins High, insists there’s a lot more to Fahnbulleh’s success than just being fast.
“When an athlete like Joe comes into your program, your main concern is not messing him up,” Lovas said in an interview last week. “You never know if you’ll ever have the opportunity to work with someone like Joe.”
Actually, Lovas has had three athletes of that caliber in recent years - Fahnbulleh, Joe Klecker and George Jackson. Klecker led the University of Colorado to national cross country honors and made the U.S. Olympic squad. Jackson, once Minnesota’s top high school trackman in six different events, earned a scholarship to compete for Kansas University.
What was Fahnbulleh’s impact on the Hopkins program?
“Joe has a magnetic personality,” Lovas noted. “His giving nature and giving spirit made him a good leader. Joe had the same vision that his teammates had. He pushed them and they pushed him.”
The way that Fahnbulleh carried himself gave the Hopkins track team confidence. Many times he would tell teammates: “We can do this.”
In 2019 Hopkins accomplished a rare feat. The Royals not only won the Minnesota State High School League Meet, they also won the State True Team Meet.
“You can win the MSHSL championship with a few strong athletes,” coach Lovas said. “But to win the True Team championship you need a full complement of sprinters, distance runners, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers. Seven athletes on our team that year went on to compete in Division I track programs. Our guys made the most of their talent.”
Lovas also coached Hopkins to the MSHSL Class AA championship in 2014. There were other podium [top-three] finishes in MSHSL and True Team state meets.
Eager to support Fahnbulleh in the Olympics, coach Lovas will soon leave for Paris as part of a six-member delegation that also includes Hopkins’ head girls track coach Andrea Yesnes.
“We are looking forward to experiencing the marvel of the Olympics,” Lovas said.
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