14:36 for Futsum.

no way REDUX wrote:

no way to know for sure. Putting a number up like 11 seems absolutely arbitrary.

Most of watchout's rankings/conversions are arbitrary.

Futsum has spent the majority of his career at 30-40 miles a week, with a peak of MAYBE 60 during the summer. 5K is actually very short for his talents, and the move up to 8K and 10K in college will suit him much better. If healthy he will be top 15 in NCAA next year as a freshman, possibly higher. His aerobic abilities are scary for how little he has worked on it during high school career compared to many of his competitors.

Just to put the Sundodger course length to rest... I did 2 wheel measurements on it over the last 2 years and came up with 4900 and 4901, respectively. About 17-20 seconds faster than a 5k. Still an amazing performance yesterday.

He's done. He's overtrained. He's not from here. He's on drugs. He's undertrained. He's already 20 years old and he's running against high schoolers. He had a wind at his back. The course is really only 2.7 miles. He's from outer space. He'll break down. No one named Futsum has ever broken a world record so why should he be the first? He's really a woman running as a man. He was wearing a facemask and it was really Galen. He's being paid by Nike. He's flunking out of high school. He's going to compete in lacrosse in college. He hates running. He eats too much red meat and he's fat. He's not as good looking as Kara Goucher. He has the same ankles as Ritz. Moving right along..... now we just talk about his running the rest of his career. Good luck.

I was at the race and what Futsum was able to do is simply amazing, he ran solo for the last 2.1 or so and just kept moving. There was a time bewteen 2 and 2.5 miles where he slowed up but absolutely dominated the last K. He came through 2miles at 9:20, Crist was only 20-22 sec back at this point, as he had gone out with Futsum and had fell back after 1mi-2k. I had overheard before the race that Futsum wanted a sub 14:30, and I was very surprised, there was no one there to help him to that time. He never worried about anyone else in the race, it didn't seem like he underestimated Jason, as he looked back a couple times, but he was in his own zone the whole time. I was staring right at futusm the whole race watching from the back of the lead gator and you could see the determination in his eyes. This guy is for real, and it is true he runs low mileage. The flashrock course is by no means flat or easy, it is legit 5K, and the conditions were perfect for this race. I wouldn't count him out of breaking any record this year, and I think the Culver record will be his next this weekend.

Maybe you should let Metcalf borrow that wheel. Actually, never mind, it would make no difference. A short HS course is no doubt part of his snow-job recruiting strategy.

a high school coach wrote:

Just to put the Sundodger course length to rest... I did 2 wheel measurements on it over the last 2 years and came up with 4900 and 4901, respectively. About 17-20 seconds faster than a 5k. Still an amazing performance yesterday.

Warren Pease wrote:

a high school coach wrote:

Just to put the Sundodger course length to rest... I did 2 wheel measurements on it over the last 2 years and came up with 4900 and 4901, respectively. About 17-20 seconds faster than a 5k. Still an amazing performance yesterday.

It's understood that it's a short course. Athletic.net lists last year's race as 3 miles, which is actually an underestimate. The 8k, which I've also wheel measured twice, is dead-on accurate.

Here's video of the race (courtesy of Indianarunner.com), but be warned that the quality is terrible because it's very shaky. The best part is at the end after Futsum finishes and it goes quiet as everyone is waiting 50 seconds for the next runner (who will likely be a national qualifier).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JdJw6hsXsk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QgZXFh7Nd8

Futsum goes 14:48 at the LaVerne Gibson course to win the Indiana State XC title.

Anyone know what the course record is for HS?

From this article, he broke Lukas Verzbikas course record by 5 seconds, State Meet course record by 25 seconds.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20111030/SPORTS02/110300347/Breaking-records?odyssey=mod

|newswell|img|Sports|p

With a time of 14:48.8, Zeinasellassie:

Won by 44 seconds, the largest margin in state history, according to records kept since 1968. "It was a race for second place," said Hamilton Southeastern junior Troy Reeder, who finished third.

Broke the high school course record of 14:53.1 set by national champion Lukas Verzbikas, Orland Park, Ill., in last year's Midwest Regional qualifier for Nike team nationals.

Broke the state meet course record of 15:13.2 set by Brock Hagerman, Pendleton Heights, in 2005.

So who is this kid? Ethiopian I guess but is he a "high schooler" or did he actually grow up in the US and is fairly certainly of proper age? I hate to ask but it seems like it's mandatory now with all the people gaming the US high school system.

asdfsadf wrote:

So who is this kid? Ethiopian I guess but is he a "high schooler" or did he actually grow up in the US and is fairly certainly of proper age? I hate to ask but it seems like it's mandatory now with all the people gaming the US high school system.

who are "all the people gaming the US high school system"?

He's been in the U.S. for at least all of high school, and insofar as someone can look one's age, he does.

I'll post the same thing I did in another thread regarding his age:

23 Zienasellassie, Futsum 92 Washington Twp 17:08.45 8

http://www.usatf.org/events/2007/USATFJuniorOlympicXCChampionships/results/national/Intermediate.asp

That is from a USATF race when he was in 8th grade. The 92 indicates he was born in 1992. There's no reason to suspect any false age as he wasn't even running until a few years after he was in the United States. Also a 17:08 5k as an 8th grader isn't really THAT great. There would have been no reason to lie about his age at that point.

That would make him either 18 or 19 depending on if he's had his birthday yet this year. He's old for his grade, but within the limits. He's been in the United States since 6th grade and didn't start running until 8th grade when a track coach at his school saw him doing a mile in gym class and convinced him to run. I believe he played soccer before that.

As for his race yesterday, his time was great, but I think the best part is how great he ran considering his terrible pacing. He said he was "too hyped" at the beginning and he ran his first k in 2:43, which is a 13:35 pace. Somehow he managed to hang on after that. He probably could have gone considerably faster with better pacing.

asdfsadf wrote:

So who is this kid? Ethiopian I guess but is he a "high schooler" or did he actually grow up in the US and is fairly certainly of proper age? I hate to ask but it seems like it's mandatory now with all the people gaming the US high school system.

Eritrean actually.

Moved into the US relatively early -- I don't think there is much question about his age.

No different than the Cheserek stuff , only Ches ran 8:42 yards indoors and 4:02 mile, only Ches has only been here for two years now, so he must be old.