Prep athletes of the week: State relay record buoys Hopkins sprinter to second victory

The irrepressible speedster capped a record-setting season with two first-place finishes at the Class 2A state meet.

He anchored Hopkins' record-setting 4x200 relay team, which set a Minnesota all-time mark with a time of 1:26.37, beating the previous state best by more than a half-second.

It was the latest in a series of stellar efforts this season by the relay team of Jaylen Champion, King Allah, Sam Leervig and Fahnbulleh. They won the event at the Class 3A True Team state meet and set a meet record at the Hamline Elite Meet with a time of 1:27.19, setting the stage for Saturday's performance.

"It means the world to us," Fahnbulleh told Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque.

Flush from that victory and full of confidence, Fahnbulleh sprinted to victory in the 200-meter dash in a time of 21.25.

"We were the best in state ever," Fahnbulleh said, referring to the relay record. "So it gave me confidence and boosted my speed tenfold."

The freshman pitched the Ponies to the Class 3A state championship, giving up 17 hits and eight earned runs over three games, highlighted by a one-run, six-hit effort in a 5-1 victory over Park of Cottage Grove in the final. She also hit .545 (6-for-11) with five RBI.

The sophomore midfielder had just one assist in the Zephyrs' 11-10 victory over Stillwater in the Section 4 championship game. But he made his presence felt elsewhere, corralling 15 ground balls and dominating on faceoffs, winning 17 of 25 attempts.

The senior at Gentry Academy, which has a cooperative agreement in lacrosse with Minnehaha Academy, had eight goals and four assists to lead the Redhawks to an 18-12 victory over Cretin-Derham Hall in the Section 4 championship game.

For the second consecutive year, Riley, a senior, dominated the sprints at the Class 1A state meet. She won the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.96 — she set a meet record with an 11.84 in preliminaries — and cruised to victory in the 200 in a time of 24.44.

The junior, a Class 3A state co-champion last year, earned the chance to play for another state title when she won the Section 1 championship with a two-day, two-under-par score of 140 —67-73— at Eastwood Golf Course in Rochester.

JIM PAULSEN