Futsum Zienasellassie Career Stats
Academic Notes: Majoring in psychology
Personal Bests: 800m (1:53.98) | 1500m (3:45.04) | Mile (4:05.92, 3:56.98@) | 3000m (7:53.76) | 5000m (13:37.89) | 10,000m (27:52.70)
2016: Competed in a total of seven indoor track & field meets … Logged nation’s eighth-best time in the 5K event at the Hoosier Open (13:44.89) … Recorded two individual victories at NAU’s Friday Night Duals (mile and 800m) … PR’ed in the mile event at NAU’s Mountain T’s (4:05.92 – 3:56.98@), which ranked fifth in the nation during the season … Subsequently earned the Big Sky’s “Men’s Track Athlete of the Week” award … Set another PR, this time in the 3000m, at the Iowa State Classic (7:53.76) and earned his second “MTAOW” award of the season … Member of the record-breaking NAU DMR team (9:39.19), which was named the Big Sky’s “MTAOW” the following week … Competed in three events at Big Sky Indoor Conference Championships (DMR, mile and 3K), podiuming in all of them … Member of the second-place indoor conference DMR team … Individual conference champ in the mile and 3K, becoming first NAU athlete ever with two career indoor golds in the 3K event … First Big Sky athlete since 2011 to win indoor gold in two events back-to-back years … Named the conference’s “Most Valuable Athlete” for the second-consecutive season, accounting for 20 points … Advanced to indoor nationals (5K event) for the first time in career, earning All-American accolades … Competed in seven more outdoor meets, including the U.S. Olympic Trials … Logged a personal-best 5K time at the Bryan Clay Invitational (13:37.89) which broke a stadium record and ranked 10th in the country … Followed up that performance with a PR in the 10K at the Payton Jordan Invitational (27:52.70), which ranked first overall in the nation and broke the NAU and Big Sky 10K record … Named the Big Sky’s “MTAOW” twice during the outdoor season … Locked up All-Big Sky performances in the 1500m (silver) and 5K (gold) at outdoor conference championships … Competed in the 10K at NCAA West Preliminaries and NCAA Division I Championships, getting second place at each race and earning All-American accolades at nationals … Finished season at U.S. Trials, running in the 10K
2015: Competed in six indoor meets during the season … Posted a season-best time of 7:58.54 in the 3K at the Iowa State Classic … Logged a PR in the 800m (1:53.98) at the Lumberjack Team Challenge … Named “Most Valuable Athlete” at Big Sky Indoor Conference Championships after earned All-Big Sky accolades for his first-place finishes in the 3000m and 5000m events, as well as second-place in the mile … Ran in six more outdoor meets … Garnered a nationally-ranked top-10 time in his first-career competitive 10K race at the Stanford Invitational (28:35.76) … Scored for the Lumberjacks at Big Sky Outdoor Conference Championships in the 1500m (5th) and 5000m (2nd – All-Big Sky) … Advanced to NCAA West Preliminaries, running in the 10K and 5K … Secured fifth-place in the 10K race at prelims and moved onto NCAA Division I National Championships, where he placed 12th overall
2014: Had a solid sophomore campaign ... Competed in both the 5000m and mile run at Big Sky Indoor Championships ... Ran a career-best 3:45.04 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in the 1500m run during outdoor season ... Was the top-ranked athlete in the Big Sky for the 1500m run but did not compete at the conference meet due to injury
2013: Competed in just two meets during the indoor season as an unattached runner ... Had a very strong outdoor season that ended with a 17th-place finish in the 5K at NCAA West Preliminaries ... Finished second at Big Sky Outdoor Conference Championships in both the 1,500m and 5,000m runs, garnering All-Big Sky honors in both events
High School: Named the Gatorade National Boys' Cross Country Runner of the Year after a decorated career at North Central High School ... Won the Nike Cross Nationals Final in a course-record time of 15:02.41 ... The runner-up at Foot Locker Nationals his junior and senior years, finishing with a time of 14:52.1 in 2011 ... Broke the tape at the NXN Midwest Regional Championship and the Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championship, along with winning three-straight Indiana state titles in cross country
Personal: Born December 16, 1992 in Dera, Eritrea, to Meleakeselam Zienasellassie ... Has three brothers (Henok, Bahlbi, and Jonas) and four sisters (Germawit, Azeb, Teklewayn, and Jerusalem) ... Also considered attending Butler, Purdue, Oklahoma and Indiana before choosing NAU ... Enjoys playing soccer in his spare time ... Brother Bahlbi also competed in cross country and track & field for NAU
NAU’s top-finisher (4th-place), All-American athlete and member of the 2016 NAU Men's Cross Country Championship squad
