Lamine Sall: Humility

A Deeper Dive Into the Life of Lamine Sall

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Carson Ordone and Brandon Douglas, Authors

“There is not much worry that comes along with having him as a part of this team. The kid is just an overall hard-worker, extremely talented, and just a great teammate all around. I love to work with him because he is always willing to try new things and help the squad in any way he can. He is not one of those guys that will mess around or bring down the team because he is committed already, he is gonna go out there and handle business.” – Garett Hudson (Coach)

After obtaining the privilege of interviewing and spending some time getting to know Lamine Sall, some words that he keeps getting described as through the track community at HSE are humble, dedicated, and a fun person to be around. Lamine, a senior at HSE that specializes in the long jump event has high hopes for this current season. The interview with the Texas State commit started as we began talking to him and asking questions about his youth and how track played a part in his childhood. Sall is an experienced athlete, mentioning various sports he has played.

“I have been running track since seventh grade and I played basketball and football all throughout my life with a little bit of soccer too.” – Lamine Sall

After talking about his history in other sports, wonder came about with what made Lamine stick with track throughout high school rather than committing to another sport. As he briefly explained his history in multiple sports and how he got to his success today.

“I was good at all of the sports I played when I was younger but every time I step foot on that track, it clears my head space and that’s what made it different from the rest. For me, I do not feel any stress or negative emotions in track.”

Shifting gears, diving into his personal life was the next topic brought to conversation, and what it will look like after high school. He humbly and gratefully expressed his opportunities and offers he has been presented with to do track and field in college. He is committed to Texas State for track and field, a college that has a history of producing Olympians.

“Going to a division one college has always been my goal. Starting in middle school, I obviously was not very skilled as I was just starting off… ending middle school and entering high school is when I started to improve, and I started training more and going to different programs to work on my craft.”

To finish up, the opportunity came to talk to Sall about academics and the importance of the topic to him. Quick to respond, it was expressed quickly just how important grades and academics are to him and how they should be a student-athlete’s number one priority.

“Personally, I am a pure African living in an African household. My parents do not play around when it comes to grades. I have a 3.9… almost 4.0 gpa, and academics are extremely important to me. I take grades very seriously. If my grades are not ‘good’ then I cannot run track.”

After talking to Lamine we decided to ask some questions to a teammate of his, Noah Link. Link is new to track this year, but he is already a key part of the HSE squad. When we spoke with Link, we used the chance to ask him some questions about what it is like to be a part of a team with someone so dominate and experienced like Sall is.

“Having someone talented and experienced like Lamine on the team is nice because I always know that I can count on him to give me advice for little things, to improve my runs, and how to better take care of my body before and after trainings.”

Wanting to gain more insight from him, asking Link more about HSE track and field in general was a priority to conclude our conversation. We shifted to a a question about what being a royal means to Link, and if Lamine Sall showcases the trait Noah describes or not.

“Being a royal to me means being competitive and having desire but also being friendly. Lamine showcases these two traits because you can always see he’s working hard to improve himself… but also is one of the best leaders and always making sure those around him are having fun and staying focused.”

Now that I have gotten the opportunity to talk with Lamine as well as some of the peers and coaches around him, if I could describe the athlete in one word, it would be humble. He is the type of person to understand his skills and ability without becoming full of himself or cocky. The Texas State commit is truly a humble person who is dedicated to his craft, but overall, a great person to be around.