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Hubner second to one
Updated: October 29, 2011 10:21PM
TERRE HAUTE — At last week’s semistate, LaPorte’s Mitch Hubner said one of his goals was to be able to see North Central’s Futsum Zeinasellassie when coming out of the last turn onto the final straightaway at the Lavern Gibson State Championship Course.
Zeinasellassie not only finished his stellar career with a third consecutive state title, his time of 14:48 broke the course record by 25 seconds and almost broke the overall state meet record, missing by six seconds.
Oh, and Zeinasellassie also blew away the record for margin of victory at 44 seconds.
No wonder Hubner couldn’t see him. Binoculars aren’t allowed while running. But the Slicers senior did finish his career with the best possible result — runner-up to a state legend.
“In my own book I won,” he joked. “You can’t really race against him. It’s just cool to say I finished second to Futsum. I wasn’t supposed to finish second.”
It’s an improvement of eight spots from Hubner’s state finish of 10th last season. Hubner said he also was happy that his team was downstate with him. The Slicers finished 19th overall.
The next local runner was part of the region’s top team, Valparaiso, which finished seventh, a couple spots short of its goal. But sophomore Ari Coulopoulos continued his rapid improvement by finishing ninth.
“That last 400 (meters) is ridiculous — it’s never-ending,” Coulopoulos said. “I was giving it all I got. My legs hurt so bad.”
The surprise finisher for the Vikings was Landon Davison, who placed 57th overall for the team’s second-best time.
“He’s been a wildcard for us all year,” Valparaiso coach Mike Prow said. “He didn’t go to camp (in July) with us. He didn’t show up until Aug. 1. He’s been our fourth or fifth runner most of the year. (But) he’s showed signs. He’s never been our No. 2 all year.”
Senior Ahmad Aljobeh was a little disappointed with his 64th-place effort after earning a medal (15th) at last year’s state meet. But after missing a big chunk of the season with an injury, he was content. And it helped that he earned the Mental Attitude Award.
“My cardio didn’t feel up to par with my body,” Aljobeh said. “I didn’t have the base I’m used to and that obviously had an affect on me.”
Finishing just one-tenth of a second behind Coulopoulos in 10th was Morgan Township’s Alec Kostelnik, who has lived on staying close to Valparaiso runners this postseason.
“I really didn’t see (Coulopoulos) until the last 100 meters, and so I went after him and just missed,” said Kostelnik, who topped the state meet finishes of his dad, Sean, who was 19th his senior year at Kankakee Valley. “I definitely wanted to walk out of here with a medal around my neck.”
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