NAU runners represent the American dream at 2016 Olympic Trials

Published by azcentral.com on July 3rd, 2016

The Indiana boy from Eritrea hovered toward the back of the pack in the 10,000-meter race on Friday night at Hayward Field, the Olympics in his head and NAU on his chest.

The initial pace was fast, the heat consuming, and as other competitors started dropping out around Futsum Zienasellassie, he said, “it got tougher mentally, and I just couldn’t go any more laps.”

Zienasellassie didn’t finish the 10K U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials race— which was won by Galen Rupp of the Nike Oregon Project in 27 minutes, 55.04 seconds. While he was disappointed, this wasn’t a throwaway race for Zienasellassie, who is entering his final year of eligibility at Northern Arizona University. It was another step toward being able to wear the red, white and blue of his adopted country.

Zienasellassie moved to Indiana from Eritrea when he was in eighth grade and became an American citizen in January 2016.