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.”

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.

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.”

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.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings’ already sparse cornerback room got a little more barren Wednesday when Mekhi Blackmon went down with an injury.

The second-year player tore his ACL, according to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, so he’ll miss his sophomore season. The tragic death of rookie Khyree Jackson dealt another blow to the position group.

Blackmon, a third-round pick a year ago, ended up playing 43% of defensive snaps last season and was an emerging presence for Brian Flores’ unit. With him now out, the only sure thing at cornerback is Byron Murphy. Behind him, there are a lot of question marks: free agent addition Shaq Griffin is on his fifth team in as many seasons; third-year players Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans have yet to show much consistency; and recent signing Duke Shelley has flashed at times, but is undersized.

The Vikings did add depth CB Jacobi Francis on Thursday, but they may look to make more moves at the position before the season begins. Here are a few options if the Vikings decide to sign another cornerback.

Xavien Howard

Howard is likely the best free agent corner on the market; he’s a former All-Pro with 29 career interceptions. Beyond that, he’s a natural fit for the Vikings’ defense, having played under Flores in Miami. Howard is 31 and suffered a foot injury at the end of last season. He may also be looking for more money than the Vikings care to offer. But he’s about as good an option as they’re likely to find this late in the offseason. 

Stephon Gilmore

Gilmore, 33, is a former Defensive Player of the Year on the tail end of his career. He’s nowhere near the player he once was and has bounced around the league over the past few seasons, but it’s not like the Vikings have their pick of the litter this close to the season. Last year in Dallas, Gilmore started all 17 games, logging two interceptions and 13 passes defended.

Patrick Peterson

Peterson makes the list solely because he’s a familiar face, having played for the Vikings from 2021-2022. At 34 years old, Peterson’s lost the athleticism that once made him a premier player, but he still has a nose for the ball. In 11 of his 13 seasons, he’s grabbed multiple interceptions, including the last two in Pittsburgh and Minnesota. Last season, he started 16 games for the Steelers.

J.C. Jackson

Jackson, 28, looked like a rising star in New England before signing a huge deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. In L.A., though, he struggled greatly, and got traded back to the Patriots midway through his second season. The Pats then cut him at the end of the year. Jackson will likely never again be the premier player he was in New England, but if Flores can get him back on track, he could be a solid contributor for the Vikings.