How did Futsum Zeinasellassie beat out the other African for XC athlete of the year? African Ed set course records everywhere then smacked him around at footlocker
How did Futsum Zeinasellassie beat out the other African for XC athlete of the year? African Ed set course records everywhere then smacked him around at footlocker
No idea, but it could be based on several factors, including the fact that Futsum has been a high level xc athlete since freshman year, top 10 at FL every year, won NXN this year then came back and almost won FL the next week, and he is a senior. Cheserek will certainly win it next year unless he is injured. I also know they look at other factors such as grades and citizenship factors, though I have no idea if any of this entered into the decision. All just guesswork on my part, though.
Cheserek was the best XC runner in the nation.
Milrosegames wrote:
How did Futsum Zeinasellassie beat out the other African for XC athlete of the year? African Ed set course records everywhere then smacked him around at footlocker
Cheserek certainly should have earned it based on XC performances but the award is also tied to academic achievement and requires an extensive application process including letters of recommendation from coaches, teachers and peers. It's embarassing on Gatorade's part that they couldn't just give the award to the best XC runner but it looks like they had to give it to the best XC runner that put together the best supporting application. It could have just been an administrative glitch on Cherek's part.
Milrosegames wrote:
How did Futsum Zeinasellassie beat out the other African for XC athlete of the year? African Ed set course records everywhere then smacked him around at footlocker
It's kinda hard to win the national award if you didn't win the state award. Tim Ball won the Gatorade XC award for New Jersey.
state-by-state listing
http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/player-of-the-year/post/_/id/5040/gatorade-boys-xc-runners-of-the-yearI thought that they give to to Tim Ball and then they would give national to Edward...
"The Gatorade National Player of the Year in each sport is chosen from the pool of State Player of the Year honorees."
So Edward wasn't even a nominee for national...
Letter of Rec. wrote:
Cheserek certainly should have earned it based on XC performances but the award is also tied to academic achievement and requires an extensive application process including letters of recommendation from coaches, teachers and peers. It's embarassing on Gatorade's part that they couldn't just give the award to the best XC runner but it looks like they had to give it to the best XC runner that put together the best supporting application. It could have just been an administrative glitch on Cherek's part.
Why is it embarrassing on Gatorade's part? They openly say that its student-athlete, not "athlete" and openly say its "athletic excellence, academic achievement, and exemplary character."
Futsum also won Nike XC nationals which he had to run an extra 2 hard races for. People like to forget this fact. Had Futsum not run a hard race EVERY WEEKEND would he have been beat by Cheserek? It's quite possible he may have beat him.