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Indiana Runner Preseason All-State

 

Indiana Runner releases its top 25 individual runners heading into the season

 

By Stephen Bain

Boys Coordinator

 

  1. Futsum Zienasellassie (10) - North Central (Indianapolis)

The freshman sensation will no longer be a freshman this year.  After a “disappointing” runner-up finish at the state meet to one of the best runners in the country, he returns as the top returnee.  He also has a 3200 state title under his belt now, as well as All-American honors (freshman mile) on the track to go along with those that he earned at Footlocker.  I would not talk about this kid breaking time records too much yet, although he will.  His coaches are very content with him running to win, and he shows himself to be a great teammate.  Look for him to help the Panthers charge for a team title while he goes for his first cross country title.

 

  1. James Martin (11) – Fort Wayne Carroll

After finishing runner-up his freshman year to the eventual national champion Michael Fout, most assumed that James Martin would be the face of Indiana distance running for the next three years.  Well, some other characters showed up this past year, and he finished third.  He will be on a much more individual hunt this year without such a threatening team.  He was runner-up in the 3200 this year to Futsum.  If anybody has a chip on their shoulder going into this season, it’s this guy.

 

  1. Tyler Byrne (12) – North Harrison

The top rated senior on this list was a bit of a mystery to much of the running community being out of the south, as their stars seem to do often.  After running some impressive times during the track season as low as in the 1600, he could still be positioned to make a charge at this title.  Do these top three guys see each other at any point during the regular season?

 

  1. Nathan Hendershot (12) – Pendleton Heights

Pendleton Heights has a way of creating some great individuals.  There was this guy named Brock Hagerman, and then a young lad Cole Hardacre who put up some impressive times.  Next has come this guy, who focuses on the 800 during the track season and was a favorite going in before being runner-up at the state meet.  Last year he made himself a little more of a contender on the grass which sets him up nicely to run after the front pack.  I would not want to have this guy on my shoulder on that final long straight away.

 

  1. Scott Vicenzi (12) – Brownsburg

It is hard to tell if people believe in this kid or not.  He went stride for stride with two All-American milers at his conference meet before going on to be an All-State athlete in the 3200.  Look for him to build confidence once he hits tournament time to propel himself into finally being one of the elite runners in the state.

 

  1. Jason Crist (10) – Franklin Central

He hopped over many returnees in this list for a couple of reasons.  First of all, many freshmen can find some big improvements going into their sophomore campaign.  Obviously Jason is on a different level than most freshmen, but he found some competitive edges to himself this track season.  He will need to be a leader on his team, and Franklin Central has a way of developing front runners.  Coach Kellison is one of the best in the business and this could be his only athlete at the state meet.

 

  1. Cameron Balser (12) – Oak Hill

This is assuming the kid cuts his hair.  Sort of.  But really, I have a hard time deciding where to put him after his track season, but he does perform well during the fall.  He beat some of these guys ranked ahead of him in cross last year, but I am dropping him because of the track season.  He may be the champion out of the New Prairie Semistate.

 

  1. John Mascari (11) – Terre Haute North

This is another guy from the south that has surprised me.  Probably one of the most improved athletes up top last fall, he did not show as much talent during the track season.  He may be more of a grass guy rather than track performances.  It also cannot hurt to have a home course advantage.

 

  1. David Osborn (12) – Chesterton

David has racked up a lot of All-State honors, but has not seemed to capture moving to the next level when it really matters.  If he wants his Trojans to have a real shot at competing with some of the other top teams in the state, he will need to lead by example and perform best when it matters most.  The Chesterton team does not produce the same level of results on the track as they do during cross, so do not let some of his “lesser” performance fool you (assuming that a 10th place 3200 finish is not impressive to you).

 

  1.  Chris Walden (11) – Carmel

His claim to fame came in the indoor season this past winter/spring, and he never got any better, but not really worse either.  He is the expected leader of the Carmel squad under the new leadership of Doc Bell, and the team is still looking to repeat their championship run from the past year.

 

  1. Tom Ohlman (12) – Carmel

Another candidate to help lead the Greyhounds after the state title is the 3200 All-Stater Tom Ohlman.  He just missed the IATCCC All-State honors for cross last year with his 27th place finish, but probably did not care with his blue team medal anyways.  He had a solid track season, which should lead to more of the same, if not better this fall.

 

  1.  Drew Gambill (12) – Shakamak

Not only does this guy come from one of the coolest sounding names for a school (maybe only second to Wawasee), but he also has a tendency for running with a  ferocious beard.  After a very disappointing state meet performance during the fall, Drew laid down some impressive track times leading up to his all-state performance in the 800.  Combine the cross country abilities he has, with the big time performance he had at state, and he should be well within the mix at state this fall.

 

  1.  Ross Ochs (12) – Huntington North

First of all, Huntington North will be lying low from most of the team drama through the regular season, as most of the teams coming from New Haven do.  Ross will need to be in this top mix for his team to have a shot at the title.  He will need to do some damage early in the race to the other teams to get things rolling.

 

  1.  Traishaun Johnson (12) – Ben Davis

Another athlete who felt the individual wrath of the Franklin Central Semi State will have to fight for his life at the semi state level, but will be able to be on cruise control leading up to it.  After qualifying for the track state meet, Traishaun will look to do the same this fall.

 

  1.  Connor Martin (11) – Westfield

A victim of the Franklin Central Semi State, Connor will look to make sure he finishes at least two places higher at the semi state meet to make a run at All-State honors this fall. He also had a disappointing state meet race while being caught up in traffic during the 1600 leading to a disqualification. Something to prove this year?

 

  1.  Hale O’Herren (12) – Cathedral

After a very disappointing finish to last year’s tournament run at the ever tough Brebeuf regional, Hale made up for it on the track claiming All-State honors in the 1600.  He may finish much higher than this at the state meet, but his first priority has to be to get there.

 

  1.  Josh Graham (12) – Huntington North

I nominated Graham as one of the most under-rated runners in the state (and maybe here on this list as well) who does not get enough talk around this community.  He will be looking to quickly back up his teammate, Ross Ochs, while chasing after the team title.  You can look for this to be one of the guys coming home with two medals from Terre Haute.

 

  1.  Julian Jimenez-Corredor (12) – West Laffayette

A sleeper pick of sorts, this guy quietly has productive cross country seasons and constantly sits near the top of the semi-state rankings.  This year, I expect him to try and make a push to be talked at the state meet level rather than just the semi state.

 

  1.  Josh Millares (11) – Fishers

The story behind this kid is that he is expected to replace the spots of Drew and Alex on the Fishers roster.  He may not be doing that, but I’m looking for a Miller replacing Fout type of effect, meaning still a great front runner, just not one of (if not the) best in America.  Expect Millares to have company from Rocky in attempting to continue the tradition quickly started at Fishers.

 

  1.  Alejandro Arroyo (12) – Culver Academies

This is a guy who has slowly and quietly paid his dues.  While always being amongst the top of the New Prairie Semi State, and winning many sectional and regional titles, Arroyo will be looking to grab himself some hardware.  Expect him to be better on the grass than he was the track.

 

  1.  J.R. Ricker (12) – Cathedral

Ricker has a tendency to just miss the state meet, as he did in cross and track, but both to talented fields ahead of him.  He had a sectional 3200 performance, which would have placed him 14th at the state meet.  Obviously, the tactics of the race skew that result, but this guy can run with the best, if he can show up to the starting line.

 

  1.  Connor Geshay (12) – North Central (Indianapolis)

Connor could create some arguments over where he should be ranked.  Personally, I think he ran a little bit out of his mind at the state meet, which is great.  Maybe he is a prime time performer.  But after a comparatively lackadaisical track season, Geshay does drop down a bit.  He was 23rd at the semi state meet, and 25th at the state meet.  That is evidence that one of those races was either really good, or not so good.  Either way, look for him to help North Central’s chances.

 

  1.  Jared Wethington (11) – McCutcheon

A not surprising lackluster track season, as the McCutcheon athletes tend to have, Jared does perform well on the hills.  The Mavericks will be down as a team, and he is one of the last remaining front-runners that was in the program last year.

 

  1.  Jace Lowry (11) – Martinsville

With a 3200 state meet performance, Lowry showed great improvements over the track season after an impressive sophomore cross country campaign that landed him in the state meet.  Expect him to get there again, but improve upon last year’s performance.

 

  1.  Joe Ebling (12) – Hamilton Southeastern

One of the fan favorites, Ebling will have one of the toughest paths to the state meet once again this year taking the Carmel-Brebeuf-Franklin Central path.  Last year his season was ended early at the regional level, but he will look to not advance just one level, but two this year.  More than likely running at as an individual, he may have that fan support help get him across the finish lines and lead him to the starting line in Terre Haute.

 

Distribution:

NP:  5 (Balser, Osborn, JimCorr, Arroyo, Wethington)

NH:  4 (Martin, Hendershot, Ochs, Graham)

FC:  12 (Futsum, Vicenzi, Crist, Walden, Ohlman, Traishaun, Martin, O’Herren, Milarres, Ricker, Geshay, Ebling)

BC:  4 (Byrne, Mascari, Gambill, Lowry)

 

Last year:

NP:  6

NH:  4

FC: 12

BC:  2