TERRE HAUTE — While North Central senior Futsum Zeinasellassie was winning his third-straight individual state championship, the rest of the field was vying for position at Saturday's 66th annual boys cross country state finals in Terre Haute. Winning his latest state title in 14:48.8, Zeinasellassie blew away the field, as LaPorte's Mitchell Hubner was second in 15:32.9, but as far as the team's went, top-ranked Columbus North won its third-straight championship with 77 points. Second-ranked Hamilton Southeastern was the runner-up with 109 points, while 14th-ranked Warsaw was 15th with 384 points and No. 21 Whitko finished 17th with 469. "Our goal was top 15, so we're going to walk away and think we had a pretty good day," Warsaw coach Jim Mills said. Whitko coach Mike McKeighen was even more pleased with how his team performed in its first-ever appearance at the state finals, which were run at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Sports Center. "We came in with a race plan to be in the back, taking it easy over the first two miles, because it's constantly up and down," he said. "We wanted to make a real nice change of speed in that last mile and begin to pick people off. "They're happy because they ran the race right and ran it perfectly," he added. "They were all charging past people in the last 400 meters." The top area boys runner was Warsaw junior Jacob Poyner, who finished in 61st with a time of 16:30.0. Poyner broke out as one of northern Indiana's top runners this season, winning the Northern Lakes Conference championship, as well as the Elkhart Central Sectional. However, it appeared the wear and tear of the season – as well as some pretty tough competition – began to take a toll, as he finished third at the Elkhart Central Regional and seventh at the New Haven Semistate. "Jake's run hard all year, and I think he just kind of got ran down physically and mentally," Mills said. "We've asked a lot of him all year. He'll come back strong." Along with Poyner's performance, other Warsaw finishers were sophomore Ismael Calderon in 94th, sophomore Ellis Coon in 96th, junior Robert Murphy in 102nd, senior Michael Smolen in 153th, freshman Michael Compton in 154th and junior Brysten James in 166th. "We actually ran pretty good," Mills said. "Jake was a little off and Ellis had an ankle problem, and we weren't even sure if he'd run this morning. He gutted it out." A positive for the Tigers was the fact that of the seven runners that were on the course Saturday, Smolen was the only senior. "Now, we've been here," Mills said. "This is all new to us. A lot of times, we had freshmen in the lineup, sophomores in the lineup. I think they responded well. Now, we know what it's all about. Hopefully, we can come back here next year and definitely shoot for a higher place than 15th." As Warsaw was finishing close to its state ranking, the Whitko Wildcats may have done a little better than was expected, despite the difficulty of the course. "It's the most difficult course we've run," McKeighen said. "It's always going up or down and that takes a toll on your legs. Going down pounds your legs and going up wears you down." And unlike Warsaw, of Whitko's seven runners, the top five were seniors, led by Trapper Mize, who finished 109th in 16:58.9. Other Whitko finishers were senior Brody Wilson in 111th, senior Dylan Cozad in 112th, senior Jude Stieglitz in 131st, senior Dallas Asher in 40th, freshman Derek Miller in 187th and freshman Evan Cozad in 196th. "For them, it's a real cathartic moment," McKeighen said about the mental state of the seniors after the race. "They can just wash themselves of all of it. They're just so happy, and this is a great way to end it. They've wanted to make it here the last four years."
Team Scores — Columbus North 77, Hamilton Southeastern 109, Carmel 152, Mishawaka 155, Lawrence Central 179, North Harrison 192, Valparaiso 214, SB St. Joe 216, Carroll 243, Zionsville 268, Bloomington South 296, North Central 303, Bedford North Lawrence 356, FW Snider 377, Warsaw 384, Crown Point 430, Whitko 469, Chesterton 479, LaPorte 492, Evansville North 506, Hobart 512, TH South 528, McCutcheon 562, Seymour 575 Top 15 — 1. Futsum Zeinasellassie (North Central) 14:48.8, 2. Mitchell Hubner (LaPorte) 15:32.9, 3. Troy Reeder (Hamilton Southeastern) 15:38.3, 4. Joey Zielinski (St. Joe) 15:39.0, 5. Michael Sublette (Columbus North) 15:39.3, 6. Miguel Lozano (Mishawaka) 15:39.8, 7. Sam Roudebush (Noblesville) 15:42.6, 8. Carl Smith (Bloomington South) 15:43.0, 9. Ari Coulopoulos (Valparaiso) 15:45.0, 10. Alec Kostelnik (Morgan Township) 15:45.1, 11. Tate Schienbein (Union County) 15:45.6, 12. Christopher Kelsey (Columbus North) 15:46.9, 13. Andrew Diehn (Columbus North) 15:49.8, 14. Johnnie Guy (North Harrison) 15:52.4, 15. Jack Andritsch (Hamilton Southeastern) 15:53.8 Warsaw — 61. Jacob Poyner 16:30.0, 94. Ismael Calderon 16:51.0, 96. Ellis Coon 16:51.6, 102. Robert Murphy 16:55.6, 153. Michael Smolen 17:29.0, 154. Michael Compton 17:29.1, 166. Brysten James 17:39.2 Whitko — 109. Trapper Mize 16:58.9, 111. Brody Wilson 17:00.0, 112. Dylan Cozad 17:00.4, 131. Jude Stieglitz 17:12.5, 140. Dallas Asher 17:18.8, 187. Derek Miller 18:19.7, 196. Evan Cozad 20:44.9
