North Central’s Futsum Zeinasellassie Captures Cross Country State Title

North Central’s Futsum Zeinasellassie capped a remarkable postseason run with a dominant showing at the IHSAA boys cross country state finals in Terre Haute this weekend.

Becoming the first sophomore to win the boys' race in a decade, Zeinasellassie sprinted around the 5,000-meter LaVern Gibson Championship Course in a brisk 15 minutes, 51.6 seconds to claim North Central’s second individual title all time. The Panthers’ previous state champion, Bart Phariss, won the crown in 1997.

Prior to state, Zeinasellassie placed first at every postseason event to complete a sweep of the tournament.

As a freshman, Zeinasellassie nearly pulled off a postseason sweep last year, winning every event until a “loose shoe incident” at state led to a runner-up placement.

Carmel junior Chris Walden trailed Zeinasellassie to finish runner-up (16:01.0) and Brownsburg senior Scott Vicenzi was third (16.02.5). Pendleton Heights senior Nathan Hendershot came in seventh, and Carmel senior Tom Ohlman was eighth.

North Central placed third as a team while the defending state champion Carmel Greyhounds were fourth. Noblesville was sixth. Zionsville was seventh, and Hamilton Southeastern took eighth.

Columbus North won the boys team title with 63 points and also won the girls team title for the sweep, the eighth school to win both titles in the same year – one year after Carmel achieved the feat in 2008.

The girls’ team title marked Columbus North’s first. For the boys, it signified the program’s third overall.

Carmel sophomore Sarah Bennett led Central Indiana in the individual standings, placing fifth with a time of 19:37.1. Franklin Central senior Dani Sullivan was 10th overall.

The Greyhounds placed second as a team with Franklin Central and Noblesville claiming second and third, respectively.

Photos courtesy of David Dixon.