Hassan, Fakorede Earn SEC Weekly Honors
January 28, 2025 | Track & Field
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State track and field athletes Abdullahi Hassan and Nicholas Fakorede earned the first SEC honors for the program this week.
"We are in a prestigious conference, and whenever our student-athletes receive an award, it's not something that we take lightly," said head coach Chris Woods. "The coaching staff and I are proud of Abdullahi and Nicholas, and I am confident that we still haven't seen the best from either of them."
Middle-distance runner Hassan was named the SEC Runner of the Week, the first SEC honor of his career. Hassan debuted in the 800m as a Bulldog this past weekend at the Orange & Purple Invitational. Racing against a field stacked with professional athletes and All-Americans, Hassan held his own to finish first and earn a new personal best of 1:45.53 over 800m. With this new career-best time, Hassan has the collegiate lead, the No. 2 time in the world this year, and the sixth fastest time in NCAA history in the 800m. He also shattered the MSU and Clemson Indoor Facility records previously held by World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist Marco Arop.
Sprinter Fakorede was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, also his first conference award. Fakorede improved on his 60m and 200m time at the Orange & Purple Invitational this past weekend, leading the squad in both events. After putting up consistent times in the 6.65 range in the prelims and semifinals in the 60m, Fakorede set another personal best of 6.60 and won the final. His finish puts him at No. 2 on the MSU all-time performance list in the event and is the fastest Bulldog in the event since 2013. Fakorede ran the fastest time by a freshman in the conference last weekend and is fourth overall in the SEC and tied for 13th overall nationally.
Hassan, Fakorede and the rest of the Bulldogs will compete next at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, on Feb. 7-8.
For more information on the Mississippi State track and field program, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateTF" on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
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"We are in a prestigious conference, and whenever our student-athletes receive an award, it's not something that we take lightly," said head coach Chris Woods. "The coaching staff and I are proud of Abdullahi and Nicholas, and I am confident that we still haven't seen the best from either of them."
Middle-distance runner Hassan was named the SEC Runner of the Week, the first SEC honor of his career. Hassan debuted in the 800m as a Bulldog this past weekend at the Orange & Purple Invitational. Racing against a field stacked with professional athletes and All-Americans, Hassan held his own to finish first and earn a new personal best of 1:45.53 over 800m. With this new career-best time, Hassan has the collegiate lead, the No. 2 time in the world this year, and the sixth fastest time in NCAA history in the 800m. He also shattered the MSU and Clemson Indoor Facility records previously held by World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist Marco Arop.
Sprinter Fakorede was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, also his first conference award. Fakorede improved on his 60m and 200m time at the Orange & Purple Invitational this past weekend, leading the squad in both events. After putting up consistent times in the 6.65 range in the prelims and semifinals in the 60m, Fakorede set another personal best of 6.60 and won the final. His finish puts him at No. 2 on the MSU all-time performance list in the event and is the fastest Bulldog in the event since 2013. Fakorede ran the fastest time by a freshman in the conference last weekend and is fourth overall in the SEC and tied for 13th overall nationally.
Hassan, Fakorede and the rest of the Bulldogs will compete next at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, on Feb. 7-8.
For more information on the Mississippi State track and field program, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateTF" on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
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Players Mentioned
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