North Central runners live up to No. 1
What we learned Saturday from the Brebeuf Invitational, an early-season look at some of Indiana’s top cross country teams, at least on the boys’ side. Complete race results may be accessed at onlineraceresults.com.
– No. 1 North Central is as good as advertised. Futsum Zeinasellassie ran in a Panther pack for more than 3,000 meters before pulling away to decisively win the 5K in 15:50.2. The Eritrean-born sophomore was such a sensation last year that there is probably too much pressure placed on him.
He conceded it makes him "more comfortable" to be part of such a strong team. "If you lost and your team won, the victory is still yours," he said. "I really like that."
North Central junior Filimon Adhanom, also born in Eritrea, finished fourth in 16:10.7. He credited his improvement to more mileage — seven miles with Bahlebi Zeinasellassie on Saturday mornings, then eight or nine on his own Sundays. "It’s running on the weekends and doing what I’m supposed to," Adhanom said. Bahlebi is a senior at North Central, but the IHSAA ruled his eligibility has expired.
– No. 2 Carmel is capable of challenging North Central. Tom Ohlman finished second. Chris Walden and Dan Porter, coming off big track seasons, were 13th and 16th, respectively. Coach Erhard Bell said Walden started too fast, and Porter usually comes on strong later in the season. Beyond that, the Greyhounds have extraordinary depth. They have 106 boys on the team and swept the top seven places (and 10 of the top 14) in the junior varsity race. Some of the JVs could push their way onto the varsity.
– Preseason rankings will be rearranged when the next boys poll is released. No. 14 Hamilton Southeastern finished third and No. 11 Zionsville fourth. Unranked Lawrence North and Lawrence Central were fifth and sixth, respectively. Next came No. 7 Fishers, No. 13 Warren Central, No. 9 Franklin Central and No. 23 Center Grove. Fishers lost a lot of talent but will inevitably climb throughout the season, and Franklin Central has a young team.
– Brebeuf Jesuit junior Jason Hoard could join the mix of the area’s elite runners. He was third behind Zeinasellassie and Ohlman.
– The Carmel girls might not be quite as all-powerful as they were last year, but they still deserve to be No. 1. They placed four in the top nine, and No. 5 runner Sarah Bennett (22nd) would have been higher if not inhibited by asthma. Carmel coach Mark Ellington said he liked the way the Greyhounds paced themselves, led by Renee Wellman and Alex Chitwood, who finished 1-2 in 19:13.4 and 19:15.2. They were about 30 seconds faster at this meet a year ago.
"(Renee) and Alex will be cruising much faster later in the season," Carmel coach Mark Ellington said. "But today was a day we didn’t have to see that. The state meet is two months away, so we’re going to pace our way there."
– Center Grove, even without departed state champion Sarah Higgens, has another strong girls team. Center Grove placed freshmen Delainey Burnett and Tori Schoettmer in seventh and eighth.
– Unranked Pike (133), Lawrence Central (134) and Hamilton Southeastern (134) had notable girls finishes in third, fourth and fifth. No. 22 Bishop Chatard was sixth (160).
