How South Bend Riley's Robert Nabieu went from Sierra Leone to Indiana's state track meet

SOUTH BEND — More than enough times of watching the same videos over and over again and the algorithm begins to pick up the pattern.

By now, YouTube knows exactly what South Bend Riley sophomore track star Robert Nabieu wants to see. The first suggested video always seems to be one of Usain Bolt's historic races. It doesn't matter if Nabieu has already watched it dozens of times. He's back again to study Bolt's form and admire his idol.

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"I see him break records, run the fastest times," Nabieu said. "His form, how he runs is so relaxed at the end."

Nabieu has tried to pick up parts of Bolt's technique here and there. But the most important thing he's learned from one of track and field's all-time greatest athletes perfectly fits his own emergence to this Saturday's state meet in Bloomington.

"You could be the last one out the blocks and it doesn’t matter," Nabieu said. "Don't just win the first couple steps, you win by the last."

Nabieu moved to the United States five years ago with his younger brother, Eric, from Sierra Leone in Africa to live with his father, who was already here. His mother still lives in Africa.

Nabieu had zero experience in the two sports he plays for the Wildcats, football where he is a running back and track where he competes in long jump, the 100-meter dash, the 400-meter dash and the 4x400.

In Sierra Leone it was all about soccer. School, eat, soccer, repeat. But here, he fell in love with football and track, though Nabieu was against the idea at first, was the natural next step for what Riley track coach Mark Liddell called a "pure athlete."

Nabieu's first high school track meet was a disaster. He was the final leg of Riley's 4x400-meter relay team. The Wildcats were in first when he got the baton. They finished dead last. Nabieu initially thought that was the beginning,  and end, of his track experience. Instead it was the turning point.

“I think it planted a seed in him that he could be better," Liddell said.

Nabieu has been a budding star all season. At the South Bend City meet in April, Nabieu finished first in the long jump (22-05.50) and second in the 100 (11.20), while also being on two first-place relay teams.

At the Penn Sectional, Nabieu set a new school record in the long jump at 23-7.

"I was surprised I got 23 (feet) because I thought I was only getting 20," Nabieu said. "I was happy, jumping up and down. I was screaming."

That feat almost didn't happen. Nabieu scratched on his first two attempts. He had one more chance to record a jump or his season was over. So Liddell told him to jump a little earlier.

"Penn has a very skinny launch board so I just told him to jump before the board to get a safe jump in," Liddell said. "He just needed to make the finals. He jumped probably six inches before the board and still broke the record."

Nabieu also qualified for regionals in the 100 (11.31), 400 (51.26) and 4x400 (3:29.61). The sophomore admitted his jump at the Goshen Regional was not the best (21-06.5) but still enough to qualify him for state.

At Riley it takes a special type of athlete to reach that stage as an underclassmen. Liddell put Nabieu right up there with Jalen Jennings, one of the most decorated athletes in school history, in terms of his potential. He saw Nabieu's promise right from his first track practices because everything came so natural to him.

"When you do your plyometric drills and start workouts with everyone together you could see a difference between athletes," Liddell said. "His physique, he (Nabieu) is kind of ripped and he's only getting bigger. And he works hard."

"The cool thing about Robert is the way he jumps is explosive. The way he lands is collegiate level."

Nabieu said there are no nerves for Saturday's meet. More excitement, to show the best of the state how good he can be. And that his school record jump was no flash in the pan.

"I feel like I could do my best at state," Nabieu said. "Hit a good mark and beat my best jump. I'm trying to get to 24. I feel like I could do it."

TRIBUNE-AREA COMPETITORS 

4 x 800 relay: Penn (Carter Kaser; Hudson Kaser; Mariano Retzloff;  Seth Jankowski,;  Connor Hamilton; Shahmeer Turk; Nicholas Probst;  Dylan DeDario).  Goshen (Cole Johnston; Luis Loera; Tommy Claxton; Drew Hogan;  Alex Lopez;  Lincoln Clark;  Bryan Sixtos-Armas;  Logan Harkenrider). 110 high hurdles:  Kanaan Jewett (Mishawaka);  Luke Kaufhold (Saint Joseph). 100: Alec Hardrict (Penn); Jaton Thomas (Concord). 1600: Anthony Roberts (Concord).

4 x 100 relay: Penn (DJ White; Jake Balis; Skjold Aallmann; Alec Hardrict;  Kohen Turner; Jaylen Williams;  Christian Kaczynski; Kevin Murphy). Mishawaka (Xavier White,  Dentrayives Woods;  Aiden Hooton; Jacob Landry; Timothy Kaye; Max Micolavonfurstenrech;  Aldan Zolman; Karon Miller).  Elkhart (Zachary Anderson, Christopher Williams;  Rodney Gates; Nathan Munson;  Micah Porter;  Jalen Bynum; Aalias Leonard; Connor Dow). 400: Sam Taylor (Riley); Collin Bergquist (La Porte). 300 intermediate hurdles: Mason Floria (Northridge); Chaise Magnuson (La Porte). 

800: Jaxon Miller (Northridge); Carter Kaser (Penn); Cole Raymond (La Porte), Kolten Becker (South Central-LaPorte). 200: Rodney Gates (Elkhart). 3200: Jack Moore (Northridge), Tommy Claxton (Goshen),  Janan Pillai (La Porte), William Bauschke (Mishawaka). 4 x 400 relay:  La Porte (Christopher Price;  Cole Raymond,  Collin Bergquist, Chaise Magnuson, Chris Libera,  Kamden Henriot, Gavin Wilson; Stephen Klimczak).  Penn (Kohen Turner, Carter Kaser, Connor Hamilton,  Seth Jankowski, Mariano Retzloff, Hudson Kaser, Blake Barker,  Austin Wells). 

High jump: Trey Thomas (Mishawaka). Long jump: Robert Nabieu (Riley); Dentrayives Woods (Mishawaka). Shot put: Ty’shaun Williams (Elkhart); Brevin Miller (NorthWood). Discus: Mike Paquette (Penn);  Ty’shaun Williams (Elkhart);  Brevin Miller (NorthWood). Pole vault: Lincoln Hulsey (LaVille)

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: How Riley's Robert Nabieu went from Sierra Leone to state meet