SPORTS BRINGS STUDENTS TOGETHER

BY RAY RICHARDSON OF THE ST PAUL PIONEER PRESS

Whenever Harun Abda faces a challenge, even while trying to figure out music on the radio, his easygoing demeanor takes over.

Few situations overwhelm Abda. All the Fridley distance runner has to do is think about is the traumatic escape he and his family made three years ago from their homeland in Ethiopia to the United States.
In Abda's mind, his stress level already has been tested.

"The serious things in life I don't take too serious," he said.

Abda is not just kicking back every day in his new country. The senior found a new passion in track and field at Fridley High School. He never ran track in Ethiopia, but after three years at Fridley, he has become a coveted recruit by NCAA Division I schools with prominent track and field programs.

Besides the University of Minnesota, Abda has scholarship offers from Stanford, Florida, Miami (Fla.), New Mexico, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa State, Nebraska, Syracuse and Akron. More offers could roll in if Abda continues to improve on his time in the 800 meters, his primary event.

Abda finished second at last year's Minnesota Class AA meet with a time of 1 minute, 50.7 seconds — just .38 seconds behind champion Zach Mellon of Buffalo (1:49.69). Mellon, a senior, has won the Class AA 800 meters the past two years but considers Abda his top rival for a third consecutive title.

"Without being disrespectful to the other competition, he's the only person that can push that kind of pace,"
Mellon said of Abda.

Mellon, however, would not have heard of Abda if Abda and his family had not been able to leave Ethiopia.
The family was living in Shashamane, a town of about 94,000 people in central Ethiopia. Abda said his father, Mohamad, was arrested in 2006 for "belonging to a different political party." When Mohamad was released, he and his wife, Mako, rounded up Harun and his 13 brothers and sisters living with them to catch a bus to Nairobi, Kenya.

Abda knew his family didn't have passports to cross the border into Kenya, but Mohamad arranged the trip anyway. The first border patrol check gave Abda an indication of things to come.

"We had to get off the bus before the checkpoint and hide, then we would get back on the bus," Abda said. "We did that to avoid the police."

Abda and his family had to pull off the deceptive move five more times before reaching a safe area in Kenya. Even then, Abda said the family had to walk 10 miles to reach Nairobi.

Abda didn't want to elaborate on what might have happened had his father or other family members been detained. The "consequences," as Abda put it, would have meant a return trip to Ethiopia and an uncertain future.
Abda's father had additional money with him just to make sure the family made it through to Nairobi.

"While we were on and off the bus, we paid money to some of the police in Kenya so we would be safe," Abda said.

Abda and several family members flew from Nairobi to the United States, eventually settling on St. Paul's East Side, where Abda's older brother, Salahadeen, was living with his family. Abda said three of his siblings chose to stay in Nairobi.

When the family moved to Fridley, Abda's world opened up even more. Trying out for the track team helped him meet new friends and adjust to America's high school culture. His English improved, and he learned more about a music phenomenon known as "hip-hop."

"At first, I didn't understand the music at all or what they were talking about," Abda said. "I used to just listen to the beats. Now I listen to the beats and the words more."

Abda's iPod also includes country music and classic rock, tunes he relaxes with while warming up before meets. At the Hamline Elite Meet in April, he won the 400 meters with a time of 49.40 seconds. He also won the 400 (49.10 seconds) and 800 (1:58.20) at the true team sectionals last week.

Abda made such an impression at last year's state meet with his close finish to Mellon that he was invited to the Nike Nationals last summer at Greensboro, N.C. He ran the 800 in 1:52.7, igniting interest from college scouts.
Mellon also has kept watch on Abda, monitoring his times this season. The two have remained in touch since last year's state meet after Abda found Mellon on Facebook. They exchange e-mails periodically and developed a casual friendship.

"A lot of people with his kind of talent would be bigheaded, but he's not that way," said Mellon, who owns the state record in the 800 of 1:48.64. "He's a humble guy. He's very respectful when we communicate. It's a pretty cool experience to come across a person like him with his background. I would like to know more about that."
Mellon signed a national letter of intent to attend Wisconsin. Abda said he would wait until after the season before making his college choice. That he has an opportunity to get his college education paid for occasionally makes him sentimental.

He remembers how close he came to not being so fortunate.

"It's a good feeling to know that I'll be able to go to college and one day help my family," Abda said. "I just want to make my family proud. I don't want to go to school too far away. I want to stay close to my family if I can."
After the route Abda took to get here, who could blame him?