By James Benedict
<[email protected]>

Senior Christopher Walden has emerged as one of Carmel’s best athletes in the last four years.  He is currently the men’s cross-country captain and ranked second in the state.

Last year he qualified as a FootLocker All-American runner and finished 11th in the nation. Now in his last year at Carmel, Walden is trying to get the one title missing from his résumé, the Individual State Championship.

Erhard “Doc” Bell, head cross-country coach, said that Walden is a favorite to win State, and has become the leader of the entire men’s Cross Country team. Walden thinks he has a shot at State, too, but also acknowledged there is a lot of talent in Indiana, the biggest being North Central’s runner Futsum Zeinasellassie. Zeinasellassie  won last year’s individual State Championship.

Zeinasellassie is also currently ranked number one in Indiana, a spot that Walden said he is looking to take. In last season’s State meet, Walden finished 9 seconds behind Zeinasellassie.

Walden said he’s ready to race him again. “I’m looking at the State game this year,” Walden said, “there’s a lot of great runners and I can compete with any of them.”

Walden said he is looking forward to his race against Zeinasellassie and viewed each race as another chance to improve against his competition. “We (Walden and Zeinasellassie) race eight times this year, but all that really matters is State.”

Walden said his personal goals this year are to win his first State title, but he said he is also strongly focused on helping Carmel win another team championship. Carmel won its last State title in the 2008-2009 season.  Walden said he believes the team this season has the skill to win State.

According to Bell, the second and third fastest runners on Carmel’s team, sophomores Patrick “Pat” Appleton and Daniel “Danny” Williams, are vital to Carmel’s success this season. He said he does not feel their age is a problem, since both ran on last year’s varsity team. Walden said, “Danny and Pat have been running great this year.”

Walden said he also trusts the skill in Appleton and Williams. Walden said he believes Appleton and Williams are a strong as any other runners at the varsity level and will only get better as the season goes on.

Carmel played in the Mason Invitational, in Ohio, on September 11, and according to Bell ran their best race to date.

The men finished first with 44 points, while Lawrence North finished second with 73. Walden finished first in the race, setting a new course record along with a new school record of 14:59.

Walden said he firmly believes both he and the Carmel team can win State this year. He said he knows the competition in Hamilton County is tough, with four out of the top five teams in Indiana running in it.

Walden said, “We (Carmel’s runners) are definitely podium contenders, We have a lot of talent and depth this year.”