By Jordan Lenard, LPHS Hi-Times staff writer
(Click on photos to enlarge)
Starting out, Mitch Hubner was like all the rest. He played baseball and basketball as a kid. He was successful at both and enjoyed playing these sports. But in middle school, Hubner started causing a commotion.
He was on Kesling Middle School’s cross country team and was very competitive. It wasn’t long before Hubner started realizing he was really good. In eighth grade, he won many of his races and was very close to setting a record for his blistering times. As a matter of fact, Hubner holds the mile record at Kesling Middle School at 4 minutes, 48 seconds. He was an easy standout in such a little field.
Coming into high school was a wake-up call for the young freshman. His coaches had expectations and Mitch was being compared to Mike Fout, who had taken first place in his senior year at LPHS. But just like any other athlete, Hubner wanted to create a name for himself rather than following in the footsteps of the great Fout.
Mitch Hubner
Freshman year was a surprise for Hubner, who wasn’t the standout he had been in middle school (understandable to him). He still put together a promising freshman year and finished 100th at state. The finish, disappointing to him, fed the fire for Hubner to improve, especially since he knew what his competition looked like.
Sophomore year was a big turn-around and Hubner proved he wasn’t just another runner. One year after finishing 100th at state, he crossed the finish line as the 33rd runner.
During his junior year, Hubner was a leader on the cross country team. He developed an impressive reputation and his expectations were great once again. He showed the dedication needed to become a great runner. Hubner was determined to crack the top 10 at state — and he did, finishing 10th.
But he knew he could do better.
Many think of time in hours, minutes, and seconds. Hubner dissects it into tenths of a second and beyond to improve his times. Senior year came before he knew it and his chances of being crowned the state champion were closing in. His senior year started out just as he had hoped. He was winning invitationals and meets. It was now his time to ultimately shine.
First up: sectionals. It seemed virtually effortless when Hubner came away with the victory, running the track at Chesterton in 15:41.4, about 20 seconds faster than second place. Stage one, complete.
Next up: Regionals. Hubner polished off the track at New Prairie, coming in first with a time of 15:49, about 10 seconds ahead of second place. Stage two was now complete and state was visible.
He finished semistate standing on the first-place podium with a time of 15:34.2, also 10 seconds ahead of second place.
State came. Hubner was ready to dominate, or so he hoped. There was one roadblock: Futsum Zeinasellassie. Futsum, a senior at North Central in Indianapolis, is one of the nation’s top runners. Hubner knew this and to beat Futsum would be a miracle. Hubner’s coach, Mr. Beres, also wanted Mitch to keep his goal realistic. He told him that second place is just like winning state, considering his opposition.
As the race started, Hubner wasted no time and jumped out toward the front of the pack. It was a very hard-fought race as he darted toward the finish and accomplished his personal goal — second place. He couldn’t believe what he had just done. He had run a 15:32.9 and averaged a five-minute mile. Granted, Futsum finished in 14:48, but Hubner’s was his best all year. He finished just one second short of Fout’s state-winning time in 2007 of 15:31.9.
“I am just glad that I had the opportunity to compete at state. I feel very blessed to be considered one of the top runners of all time (at LPHS and statewide),” Hubner said.
Author Jordan Lenard
“I have made some awesome friendships along the way and have been able to establish a great work ethic, both of which kept me going.”
He’s proud to be able to say “I was there once. I ran against the best and competed right there with them.”
It’s been a great ride for Hubner, but it’s not quite over. He plans to run in college and see where it takes him.
He says his four years at LPHS have flown by. He says it feels like just yesterday that he was watching Fout compete and was thinking of what he needed to do to become as good as him.
It’s safe to say he figured that out.
EDITOR’S NOTE: WNLP is proud to occasionally showcase the work of LPHS journalism teacher Angela Saoud’s students.
