Minnesota
Ones to watch: These Minnesota men are running for Liberia at the Paris Olympics
Last week, Jabez Reeves, a sprinter at Minnesota State University – Mankato, stretched by himself on the end of the school’s track. He then ran three full-speed sprints, as his coach at Mankato watched on.
Three days later, Reeves was on a flight to Paris, where he’ll compete on the Liberian Olympic men’s 4×100 meter relay team.
While the team members are clearly tied to Liberia, they also share a strong connection to Minnesota.
“I have a lot of family toward the Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park area. So for them, just having people that are from Minnesota, putting on and trying to take our name internationally is pretty huge for them,” Reeves said. “It’s just more like an honor thing, just being grateful that I’m allowed to be in this position now.”
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Reeves grew up in Woodbridge, Va., but transferred to MSU when another Liberian sprinter — Emmanuel Matadi — recruited him.
Matadi is also the veteran of the Liberian relay team. He ran at Johnson High School in St. Paul. Akeem Sirleaf was a sprinter at North St. Paul High School and now runs for North Carolina A&T State University. And then there’s Joseph Fahnbulleh, who ran for Hopkins High School in Minnetonka and then raced for the University of Florida.
Jabez Reeves in Mankato before heading to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News
All three of them have state high school championships under their belts.
“When we all talk, we’re all like ‘Yeah, I’m from this part of Minnesota, I’m gonna do what I gotta do to represent this part of Minnesota,’” Sirleaf said. “But when we all come together on that relay, none of that matters. We just focus on the goal, which is to make it to the final and get a medal.”
While the team has a strong Minnesota connection, they rarely get to run together. Getting timing down and baton passes right will be something they’ll work on in Paris before their first race.
But at Olympic Qualifiers in May in the Bahamas, the team looked like a well-oiled machine.
The top two teams in each heat get automatic bids. Liberia was in fifth place as the last leg of the race came, but Fahnbulleh exploded in the anchor leg, pulling his team into second, edging out Switzerland by a hundredth of a second.
The ecstatic team ran to each other on the track, hugging each other.
“That whole relay was just amazing,” Sirleaf said. “I feel like it was a steppingstone for us to put our name out there to the world, to let the world know that, yeah, we’re a small country, but we’re coming.”
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Sirleaf is nursing an injury and will be an alternate in Paris. John Sherman, a 19-year-old from Middle Tennessee State University, will run in place of Sirleaf.
As the Olympic ceremonies open Friday in Paris, the team will come out waving the Liberian flag, a celebration both of their journey and Liberia’s Independence Day, which is the same day.
In 1991, the U.S., and specifically Minnesota, began resettling refugees from Liberia, who were fleeing civil war. Today, Minnesota is home to one of the largest Liberian populations in the U.S., estimated at around 30,000 people.
“The Minnesota connection is really strong,” said Momodou N’Jie, Joseph Fahnbulleh’s cousin and manager. N’Jie grew up with him in the Hopkins area. He says the community is excited to watch the Liberian-Minnesotans compete in Paris.
“There’s a lot of different watch parties, not only obviously here in Minnesota … Rhode Island’s another big place and obviously in Liberia,” he said. “I think it’ll be very cool to see all these different watch parties.”
As of Thursday, the exact location of those watch parties hasn’t been announced.
Many families will also be traveling to Paris, which wasn’t a possibility at the Tokyo Olympics because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“I feel like it’s big, because my mom is going to be there. Because [Liberia’s] her native country. So for her seeing me there in Liberia gear, and us on the stage and being the flag bearer and things like that. It’s kind of just huge for her.”
He said racing for the team, representing the country his mother grew up in, will be an honor.
“I grew up around so many Liberians that it almost feels like a duty,” Reeves said. “I kind of felt like I had to run for Liberia just because of where I’m from. And it’s kind of like my birthright, kind of like something that I feel had to be done.”
Jabez Reeves warms up at Myer’s Field House in Mankato.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News
He said it’s not only his family that’s excited, but the broader Liberian-American community.
“The very first time we qualified, I had almost 1,000 messages, just about ‘Congratulations. We’re so proud of you,’” he said. “I’ve had a couple of run-ins at the airport, like MSP, where people are like, ‘Oh, you’re the Liberian guy!’ It’s super cool to see people happy and excited that we’re doing something for not just ourselves, but for them as well.”
The first race for the relay team will be on Thursday Aug. 8. Fahnbulleh will run the first round of the 200 meters on Aug. 5. Matadi will run the first round of the 100 meters on Aug. 3.
Eagan, MN – Minnesota Aurora FC clinched a fifth straight Heartland Division title and a spot in the USL W League playoffs with a 4-1 win over River Light FC on Saturday at TCO Stadium.
Aurora improved to 10-0-0 on the season and finished its home schedule unbeaten.
Ai Kitagawa scored twice and added an assist, increasing her season total to 11 goals. Flavie Dubé had a goal and an assist, and Amelia Brown scored her first goal of the season.
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Kitagawa opened the scoring in the 14th minute off a through ball from Dubé. River Light tied it in the 27th on a header from Victoria Adams — the first goal allowed by Aurora this season.
Minnesota regained the lead in first-half stoppage time on Dubé’s breakaway finish and extended it in the 51st minute when Kitagawa scored again on a cross from Gracie Dunaway. Brown added a late goal in the 81st minute.
Aurora will play its final two regular-season games on the road before the playoffs begin the weekend of July 3-5.
Minnesota
Minnesota man arrested in WI for ‘numerous’ criminal sexual conduct charges against a child
A Minnesota man was arrested in Wisconsin on allegations of multiple criminal sexual conduct charges against a child.
Nathan Brase, 33, of Minnesota, was arrested in Medford, Wisconsin, on Thursday after an arrest warrant was issued. According to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, the warrant was issued following an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation by the Two Rivers Police Department
That investigation reportedly led to Brase facing what authorities say are “numerous” felony charges, including exposing his genitals to a child and grooming a child for sexual activity.
Brase is currently being housed in the Taylor County Jail, awaiting extradition.
Minnesota’s defense was huge in the fourth quarter Friday. And on a rare offensively challenging night, Olivia Miles came up big late in other ways.
The Lynx limited Golden State to just 13 points in the final frame and beat the Valkyries 81-75 in San Francisco.
Minnesota has won 11 of its past 12 games.
Golden State finished 4 of 22 from the field in the final 10 minutes, including an abysmal 2 of 13 from deep. Golden State went 12 for 40 from distance overall, a significant departure from its 36.9% mark entering the game, which was good for second-best in the association.
The Valkyries led by 12 late in the first half, but were outscored 16-3 by the Lynx around halftime and 40-29 in the final 20 minutes.
“You don’t get better when it comes easy. This was definitely a challenge for us. It just helps us to understand how to play as a team, how to handle those different moments, how to stay together,” said Nia Coffey, who led the Lynx with a season-high 22 points. “Things aren’t always going to go our way, so I think we made some good strides.”
Courtney Williams added 21 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and five assists. Playing with much enjoyment, she also blew some kisses to the crowd and made heart gestures with her hands.
“The got an amazing fan base, and they fan base not that nice,” she said smiling. “But I love it, because who don’t want to play in this type of environment?”
Kayla McBride added 17 points.
“We needed Courtney Williams and Mac to compete, compete, compete,” coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Courtney’s first five minutes were forgettable and then she played the remainder of the game exactly as we needed her to do. She provided the compete for us. The rookie needed her.”
That first-year player would be Miles, who scored just seven points on 1 of 10 shooting, the first time in her young career not reaching double digits. But Miles recorded a three-point play early in the fourth quarter and drained a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds left for a 79-75 lead.
The star point guard then blocked a 3-point try by Cecilia Zandalasini at the other end before Ola Kosu iced the game with two free throws.
“Us and them are the two best defensive teams in the league, so what she saw was actual defense,” Reeve said. “She saw physicality, she saw aggressive trapping. … Liv needed a game like this. This was a tremendous growth point for her when things don’t go your way, how do you show up? What she showed is that she’ll show up on the defensive end with kind of a game-sealing block, rebounding the basketball, closing out with free throws. She didn’t quit. … Maybe her numbers weren’t gaudy, but the impact she had on the game still was tremendous.”
The Lynx (13-3), who open a home-and-home series with Washington Sunday at Target Center, made 21 of 23 free throws, including eight of nine in the fourth quarter. The Valkyries (10-6) made just three of eight in the fourth quarter and 11 of 17 overall.
Down by 12 with under a minute to play before the half, McBride scored on a cutting layup, and after a Golden State miss, made two free throws. She then forced a Golden State turnover that led to Coffey getting fouled on a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left. With all three free throws falling, the Lynx were only down 46-41 after two quarters.
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