Nef Araia (4th, Midwest)

Nef Araia finishes fourth at the 2001 Foot Locker Midwest Regional. (Photos by Victor Sailer @PhotoRun, click to enlarge)

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
High School: Lawrence North High School
Year of Graduation: 2003

Araia established himself as Indiana's best high school runner this season, winning his first state title and narrowly edging out Kaleb VanOrt by one second. It was a big improvement for Araia who finished 27th state meet as a sophomore. He originally planned to run at the Junior Olympics but him successful season pursuaded him to give the Foot Locker Midwest Regional a shot. His decision paid off as he finished fourth in 15:34, earning his first trip to the Foot Locker National Finals.

Other Notes:
...After having a "poor" track season (finishing 7th in the state meet 3,200m with a 9:25.1), Araia asked his coach what he could do to go under 9:00 in the 3,200m and 15:00 in the 5k. His coach told him to multiply what he was already doing times ten... Araia's parents hail from Eritrea... Araia is 5' 6" tall and weighs approximately 110 pounds... One race that Araia didn't win this season was the Marion County Championships. He was leading the race before making a wrong turn. He went about 200 meters before realizing his mistake. He rejoined the race around 80th place and eventually worked his way up to finish in 14th.

In the News:
Wins Franklin Central Semi-State (10/20/01)
Wins Indiana State Meet by one second (10/27/01)
Is DyeStat's Nike Athlete of the Week (9/21/01)
Araia wins tri-state Race of Champions [photos] (9/15/01)
Wins Ben Davis Cross Country Invitational (9/12/01)