8 — Friday, January 16, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

One step at a time for Ferlic

Redshirt junior 
heads into third 
season running 

steeplechase

By MATTHEW KIPNIS

Daily Sports Writer

Wisconsin runner Alex Brill 

was struggling with one lap to 
go as Michigan’s Mason Ferlic 
closed in. Feeling energized 
by his teammates’ cheers from 
the background, Ferlic found 
himself in contention to win 
the 2013 Big Ten Outdoor 
Championships 
in 
just 
his 

second-career steeplechase.

Ferlic had jumped over his 

27th barrier of the race, with 
just the water pit and one more 
hurdle to go. Ferlic was in awe 
that he was moments away from 
winning his first championship 
title. But with 300 meters left, 
Brill slid out over the water pit, 
taking Ferlic down.

Ferlic lost his balance and 

with it, the chance of victory.

“All I remember is hitting the 

ground,” Ferlic said. “It was a 
great ‘what if?’ If I hadn’t fallen, 
I could have won. It bothered me 
in the fact that it was a missed 
opportunity to possibly win a 
championship and obviously 
score points for the team.”

Ferlic recovered from his fall, 

and finished the race in fourth 
place. He was just a redshirt 
freshman, but he had already 
come so far.

Even today, Ferlic has trouble 

comprehending how fast he 
has progressed. Before he even 
knew the ins and outs of the 
steeplechase, he was thrust 
onto the national level.

The fall into the water pit 

wasn’t a setback, but rather 
another step along the journey 
for Ferlic, who continues to 
fight even when he gets knocked 
down.

* * *

For 
Ferlic, 

running 
has 

always 
been 

about 
taking 

one 
step 
at 

a 
time 
— 

setting 
goals 

to 
overcome 

the 
current 

hurdles ahead 
of him.

Most 

runners begin their career at a 
younger age, but Ferlic played 
soccer as a kid and didn’t start 
running until high school. After 
some friends convinced Ferlic 
to go out for the track team his 
freshman year, he realized his 
passion.

His first goal was to simply 

catch up to the competition and 
overcome his inexperience.

“I wasn’t particularly fast or 

a talented runner,” Ferlic said. 
“You wouldn’t pick me out and 
say, ‘Oh, that kid is going to be 
fast at running.’ I guess I wasn’t 
even a great athlete when I was 
young because I was a skinny, 
scrawny rail at that point with 
no muscle, but I enjoyed it.”

Ferlic fell in love with the 

sport’s individual competitive 
nature, and though he started 
after 
most 
runners, 
he 

could 
easily 
overcome 
that 

disadvantage. 
He 
controlled 

his fate each practice and each 
race, which kept him at ease. 
It was up to him in a race and 
during training to get better at 
a sport that is governed by the 
stopwatch and nothing more.

He then started setting loftier 

goals, such as reaching the state 
meet and then winning both the 
1,600-meter race at states then 
to win the 3,200-meter race 
along the way.

“I don’t know if there is one 

thing that stands out about him 
when you first look at him,” said 
Michigan cross country coach 
Kevin Sullivan. “But I think 
once you get to know Mason, 
then you see he has a very strong 
inner drive and competitiveness 
that not a lot of athletes have. 
The way he approaches it 
mentally sets him apart from 
a lot of his competition. He is 
someone that, unless everything 
is 100 percent perfect, then it’s 
not satisfying.”

Sophomore 
Ben 
Flanagan 

added: “He is very driven and 
well aware that success doesn’t 

come easy. He is willing to put 
in as much as effort as he needs 
to achieve his goals and there is 
no goal that he doesn’t think he 
can achieve.”

Ferlic ended up using his 

inexperience to his advantage. 
Rather 
than 
holding 
him 

back, it motivated him to work 
harder and not be satisfied with 
catching up to the pack.

Instead, he led it.

* * *

Then 
came 
Ferlic’s 
next 

step: college track. In addition 
to an academic and social 
change, the move to Ann Arbor 
eventually became Ferlic’s first 

true 
running 

challenge.

“Freshman 

year 
cross 

country went 
probably 
as 
poorly 

as 
it 
could 

possibly 
go 

for a freshman 
season,” Ferlic 
said. “I had 
quite 
a 
few 

ups and downs in college, much 
more than high school. At that 
point, you are just a high school 
runner versus guys that are 
college runners, and there is 
a huge gap. That was kind of a 
tough pill to swallow.”

Ferlic was determined not 

to let that stop him, and as he 
watched older runners, notably 
then-senior Craig Forys, he 
learned how to remain calm 
yet confident before a race. As 
he continued to learn from the 
best, his desire to follow in their 
footsteps grew even larger.

Then, during his sophomore 

year, Ferlic broke his foot 
and 
was 
diagnosed 
with 

mononucleosis and anemia.

“It was kind of a rough first 

two years,” Ferlic said. “It was 
tough because at that point I 
had found my ground, training 
was clicking and things were 
coming together. To be sidelined 
again was disappointing.”

Through 
that 
hardship, 

though, 
he 
found 
the 

steeplechase. After Ferlic put up 
practice times on the border of 
reaching the regional meet for 
the 5K while recovering, former 
cross country coach Alex Gibby 
wanted to give him a chance 
at the steeplechase during the 
outdoor portion of his redshirt 
freshman season. Now, he had 
to run five fewer laps, jump over 
four hurdles and leap across a 
water pit.

It was just an idea at first, 

something for him to try while 
recovering. But when he ran 
the steeplechase for the first 
time in the Toledo Invitational 
and finished first, he found his 
newest calling.

“I never considered myself 

a steeplechaser for the first 
year,” Ferlic said. “It was kind 
of that side event that I tried 
out instead of the 5K, but I have 
certainly fallen in love with it.”

* * *

And after he had taken that 

stumble going into the last leg 
of the Big Ten Championships, 
the 
success 
came 
rushing 

in. He finished fourth in the 
3,000-meter steeplechase at the 
2013 NCAA East Preliminary 
Rounds, 
qualifying 
for 
the 

NCAA 
Championships 
but 

failing to reach the finals. He 
finished 13th that year, earning 
All-America 
second-team 

honors.

As a redshirt 

sophomore, 
Ferlic was ready 
to 
take 
the 

next step and 
make the 2014 
NCAA Outdoor 
Championships. 
But 
one 
race 

stood 
in 
his 

way, 
the 
one 

race in which he 
had taken his first fall on the big 
stage.

During the 2014 Big Ten 

Outdoor 
Championships 
it 

happened again. Ferlic clipped 
the second barrier and fell. In 
this race, though, he had time 

to rebound, remembering the 
pain he felt the year before. He 
finished the race in third place, 
improving 
on 
the 
previous 

season’s time by more than four 
seconds.

He then was ready to take 

on the NCAA Finals, which he 
had missed by half a second the 
previous year. Not forgetting 
his mistakes, instead embracing 
them, Ferlic qualified for the 
2014 NCAA Championships and 
finished fourth to earn his first 
All-American first-team honors 
in track.

“He has made really good 

strides in the last three years 
progressing through the ranks 
of the NCAA,” Sullivan said. 
“For him, as long as he stays 
injury-free over the next year 
and he is able to consistently 
train, I don’t see a reason why 
he can’t take a step up next 
year.”

It was then that Ferlic took 

what he had learned on the 
national stage and carried that 
success 
into 
cross 
country, 

improving from 22nd in the 
NCAA 
Championship 
his 

redshirt sophomore year to 13th 
place this past fall. Ferlic also 
led the Wolverines in all six 
events, carrying Michigan to an 
11th-place finish at the NCAA 
Championships — its highest 
finish in 12 years.

“The fact that we came out 

of cross-country season with 
him having his best finish ever 
is going to build a lot of natural 
confidence as we go into the 
indoor and outdoor season,” 
Sullivan said.

* * *

Even with all his success in 

the steeplechase, Ferlic doesn’t 
tell people he runs that event, 
because hardly anyone knows 
what it is. He understands that 
as he runs down State Street, 
people won’t be shouting his 
name. Most don’t even know 
who he is, but that doesn’t 
bother him.

It’s 
about 
the 
personal 

satisfaction 
and 
trying 
to 

improve upon his goals and help 
the team. It’s about improving 
where he is as a runner and 
showing the young runners that 
even if you have a beginning like 
he did, you can still end up at the 
top.

“Firstly, I look up to him to 

try to achieve the same results 
he has, and secondly to be the 
type of runner he is,” Flanagan 
said. “It is something I would 
like to see in myself one day.”

This season Ferlic hopes to 

carry his cross country success 
into this track season as he 
attempts to surpass his fourth-
place finish a year ago.

He is humble, knowing that 

he 
owes 

where he is 
to the hard 
work that he 
has put in to 
get over each 
adversity. 
Each 
year 

he has taken 
that 
next 

step, 
even 

with a few 
falls 
along 

the way.

At this point, the worst thing 

that could happen is falling 
down. But even if he is face-first 
in a water pit, it won’t matter.

Mason Ferlic will get back up. 

He’s done it before.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Ferlic slipped and fell just short of his first steeplechase title, but has since become an All-American in the event.

Michigan looks 
to halt road woes

Wolverines seeking 

first road win at 

Northwestern after 

historic victory

By JACOB GASE 

Daily Sports Writer

In its last three games at 

Crisler Center, the Michigan 
women’s basketball team has 
knocked off three traditional 
conference powerhouses: Penn 
State, Michigan State and Ohio 
State. It’s not just the first time 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico has beaten all three in one 
season — it’s the first time the 
Wolverines have done it since 
the 2000-01 season.

But 
despite 
its 
recent 

accomplishments, 
Michigan’s 

success this season remains 
largely confined to Ann Arbor. 
The Wolverines (3-2 Big Ten, 
11-5 overall) have just two wins 
away from home, and both 
occurred at a neutral site in the 
San Juan Shootout. In its four 
true road games this season 
— including Big Ten contests 
against Wisconsin and No. 24 
Rutgers — Michigan is winless.

Saturday, 
the 
Wolverines 

head to Evanston looking to 
end their road skid against 
a 
Northwestern 
team 
that 

is undefeated at home. The 
Wildcats 
(3-2, 
13-3) 
have 

already beaten Michigan State 
twice, and their only losses of 
the season came in tough road 
matchups at Ohio State and No. 
22 Iowa.

“They’re 
playing 

exceptionally 
well,” 
Barnes 

Arico 
told 
WTKA 
Radio 

on Tuesday. “They have all 
returning starters, and they’re 
playing at a 
really, 
really 

high 
level. 

That 
will 

be 
a 
huge 

challenge for 
us, especially 
on the road.”

Like 
the 

Wolverines, 
Northwestern 
has succeeded 
primarily 
because of a 
balanced scoring attack. Led 
by forward Nia Coffey’s 15.4 
points per game, the Wildcats 
have four starters averaging 
double 
digits. 
Northwestern 

also boasts a talented 3-point 
shooter in guard Maggie Lyon, 
who is shooting 45.2 percent on 
93 attempts from beyond the arc 
and has led her team in scoring 
during conference games.

But Michigan has had nearly 

a full week to prepare for the 
Wildcats. With no weekday 
game following the victory over 
the Buckeyes on Sunday, the 

Wolverines have used the time 
off to rest and rejuvenate before 
the road test ahead.

“It gives our kids a chance 

to get a great day off,” Barnes 
Arico said. “They come in 
and get treatment, they get 
massages, they get taken care of 
by our trainer and really work 
on their recovery. They played a 
lot of minutes in a super physical 
game (against Ohio State). We 
make sure they’re resting their 
legs, getting some treatment 
on their legs after playing an 
overtime game like that.”

The extra practice time has 

also given Michigan a chance 
to focus on its own game 
before jumping into scouting 
Northwestern. Earlier in the 
week, the players divided up to 
watch film with their respective 
position coaches, trying to work 
out the kinks in their individual 
games before worrying about 
opponents.

The Wolverines hope their 

extra preparation and fresh 
legs will help them avoid falling 
into early holes like they have 
in their previous road games. 
In each of its four road losses, 
Michigan has fallen behind 
early 
and 
been 
unable 
to 

recover. Against Wisconsin and 
Rutgers, the Wolverines were 
able to erase enormous deficits 
with second-half spurts, but 
they still ultimately suffered 
double-digit losses.

But trailing by six points with 

4:16 remaining against Ohio 
State, Michigan showed it does 
have the capability to finish off 
a comeback. On the strength of 
senior guard Shannon Smith’s 
36-point performance (24 of 
which came in the second half 
and overtime), a pair of clutch 
3-pointers 
from 
freshman 

guard Katelynn Flaherty and 

an astonishing 
12 
offensive 

rebounds 
from 
senior 

forward 
Cyesha 
Goree (19 in 
total), 
the 

Wolverines 
eked 
out 
a 

hard-fought 
100-94 
victory.

“The 

confidence they had, the drive, 
the passion, the refuse-to-lose 
attitude — it was incredible,” 
Barnes Arico said. “It was a 
special day for our program, for 
sure.”

Ideally, Michigan will want 

to emulate the strong first-half 
defense it has showed the past 
three home games rather than 
allowing more early scoring 
runs. But if the Wolverines slip 
up and still have a chance at a 
late-game comeback against the 
Wildcats, Barnes Arico knows 
she has the players to pull it off.

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Kim Barnes Arico’s team is 0-4 on the road this season and faces another 
tough test Saturday night in Evanston against Northwestern.

“(Sunday) was a 
special day for 
our program, 

for sure.”

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Mason Ferlic is coming off a fourth-place finish nationally in the steeplechase.

“The way he 
approaches it 
mentally sets 
him apart.”

“It was a great 
‘what if?’ If I 
hadn’t fallen, I 

could have won.”

