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Exchange student Teo Toernqvist talks basketball, Williams
Toernqvist said he felt welcome

Seventeen-year-old Teo Toernqvist said he will miss basketball, though he hopes to return to the U.S. for college and said he may consider playing hoops there. He currently plans on playing golf and running on the track team for Williams High School before his return to Sweden in May.

Seventeen-year-old Teo Toernqvist said he will miss basketball, though he hopes to return to the U.S. for college and said he may consider playing hoops there. He currently plans on playing golf and running on the track team for Williams High School before his return to Sweden in May.

Swedish exchange student Teo Toernqvist came to Williams last August, though you couldn't tell by looking at him. He's fit right in with the rest of the teenagers in the area, playing sports, going to the movies with friends and going out with girls (his girlfriend is the current Miss Route 66, Juni Nelson). He barely even has an accent.

What sets him apart, however, is his size. Measuring in at 6'-3" and 190 pounds, the giant 17-year-old is perfect for the power forward position, which he played during this year's memorable basketball season. He can also talk about Sweden and Stockholm in particular, with more experience than most American high school students. That makes sense, of course, since he's from there.

"I'm used to living in bigger cities. I've lived in Stockholm, Dallas, Orange County, now Williams," said Toernqvist.

Toernqvist has lived in Stockholm since he was 10, but spent a number of years in Dallas prior to that. He was born in Stockholm as well, to parents Ulf and Ann-Cristen Toernqvist, but moved to Orange County when he was one. He moved in with his hosts, the Kirkley family, Aug. 3. Denis Kirkley, besides hosting the exchange student, was also his basketball coach this last season at Williams High School.

"Everywhere is so different. There's a reason why I wanted to become an exchange student, because I feel American culture, especially high school culture, is very charming to me," said Toernqvist. "It's cool to come out here because it's a beautiful place, you don't see as clear of skies back in Stockholm as you do here."

When Toernqvist returns to Stockholm in May, it will be with mixed feelings.

"I'm going to go back to Sweden to finish two more years of schooling in what we call 'gymnasium,' where I have a major in social economics. After ninth grade you take the grades you have and you apply to different gymnasiums, like college. I would call gymnasium a free college. I apply to college, I choose a major and depending on my grades, I get accepted to different gymnasiums."

Now that basketball season is over, he's got his eye on high school golf and track. He'll miss hoops however, as he said it was his favorite sport. Toernqvist took a week off before starting his new endeavors after the Vikes rough loss at the state championships in Phoenix.

An emotional loss

"I wanted to get motivated again for sports after having a hard basketball season, we had an emotional loss too," said Toernqvist. "I like basketball a lot and I wanted to be a part of high school basketball a little longer. We've been a really good team this year, we've had really great guys who completed each other in the way they play, but we're not perfect. We did what we could even if I think we could have done some things better. School is the center for everything, at least for me, who is a senior here. When I come and play sports, the entire school is behind us here, you have these pep rallies, you have people come to the games. In Sweden, where I play for a private club, because they don't have school sports in the same way, the most people in the bleachers are my parents or something. It feels amazing to be pushed by something as big as this school," Toernqvist said. "The only part that is emotional is that I won't be able to play high school basketball again, which I thought was amazing."

Toernqvist said he wants to come back to the U.S. when it's time for him to go to college.

"I'm planning to go back to Sweden to finish my two years of gymnasium and then probably finish my studies in Sweden. Then I want to come back here and go to law school."

Toernqvist said he has truly enjoyed his time living in northern Arizona ‹ and in Williams with the Kirkley family.

"I really felt welcome in this town," said Toernqvist. "It's been good. They've been really nice to me. It's different in cultures with chores and such. I've grown to become accustomed with it. Here I have a curfew, in Sweden I haven't had a curfew for a couple years."

A sports dinner will be held tonight to honor players for their achievements during the season. The dinner will be held at 6 p.m. at WHS. For more information, call the high school at 928-635-4474.


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