8 — Friday, February 26, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan’s DMR team:
‘How did this happen?’
Four-man group
recalls school-
record performance
last weekend
By SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Writer
Mike McGuire was standing
at the finish line of the men’s
distance medley relay. His arms
were crossed, and he was staring
at a stopwatch. He was chuckling.
“Wait until you see how fast
you ran,” said McGuire, the
assistant coach of the Michigan
women’s track and field team, to
Mason Ferlic.
The fifth-year senior — who
had just finished the anchor
1,600-meter leg — had caught up
to the lead runners and put the
Wolverines in third place after
the pack had trailed for most of
the race.
“3:55,” McGuire said.
Overhead on the board, the
final time of 9:27.67 flashed. It
was good enough to qualify for
nationals and three seconds
better than their goal of 9:30.
And, even though nobody knew
it at the time, they broke the
school record made in 2004
by national champions Nate
Brennan,
DarNell
Talbert,
Andrew
Ellerton
and
Nick
Willis. Both Brennan and Willis
went on to be Olympians.
All Ferlic could respond was,
“How did this happen?”
* * *
In the Alex Wilson Invitational
last weekend in South Bend, Ind.,
the Michigan distance medley
relay team was run by, in order,
sophomore
Chase Barnett
in the 1,200-
meter
leg,
fifth-year
senior
Phil
Washington
III in the 400-
meter segment,
sophomore
Brennan
Munley in the
800-meter portion and Ferlic.
Originally,
however,
Washington was only considered
an alternate. Freshman Taylor
McLaughlin was set to run just
that morning.
“I actually came to the track
in khakis and (Timberlands)
so I was really not prepared to
run,” Washington said. “But
(McLaughlin) said, ‘Oh, I threw
up this morning,’ so I was like,
‘All right.’ I just started warming
up with him, and throughout
the warmup, he was filling me
in and saying he felt queasy, but
he wasn’t sure if it was nerves
or not. So I told him to keep on
warming up because this was a
huge opportunity.
“(Assistant
coach
Kevin
Sullivan) made the call 10
minutes before (that I was
running) and at that point I
was freaking out. Outside I was
like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready,’ but on the
inside I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ ”
Washington — who has been
plagued by injuries for the past
two seasons — has been struggling
to regain footing as a competitor
for the Wolverines. Going into
the meet, he was divided between
cheering for his teammates and
being disappointed in potentially
only riding his teammate’s success
to championship season without
contributing.
“I had to start stretching and
doing some sprints,” Washington
said. “Normally, I think about my
race, but this was a lot different
because I didn’t have to think. I
just went right in, and when I got
the baton, I kind of blanked out
and just went for it.”
The rest of his teammates had
the same “go for it,” attitude.
Program
history
dictates
Michigan has been a formidable
opponent in the distance medley
relay event, but Michigan coach
Jerry Clayton and Sullivan had
been wary of putting athletes in
the event until this year.
They were waiting for the
right group of guys.
“We needed to have the right
athletes in place to make (the
distance medley relay team),”
Sullivan said. “We weren’t going
to waste a race on the DMR. We
just weren’t at that place last
year. This has been, historically,
a great event for track and field.
We have some of the fastest
times ever in the country. It has
been a really important part
of our program. We wanted to
build until we had a team that
had a group of guys ready to
compete for nationals.”
But this season’s distance
medley relay team was not
expecting to do anything but try
to secure a spot in nationals.
In Michigan’s indoor training
facility, a board that is hung
up lists off the records. Every
Wolverine dreams of having
their name up there.
“I remember
looking at the
board
and
seeing it and
thinking there’s
not a chance in
hell we’re going
to beat that,”
Munley said. “I
saw the names,
and
I
didn’t
even have to
look at the times, I thought, ‘That’s
not happening.’ ”
* * *
Barnett started off the race
with a split time of 2:56.9. He
passed the baton to Washington
last among his competitors. Yet
it wasn’t the fact that he was
doing poorly, it was just others
were doing extremely well.
Washington was able to pass a
couple of guys after completing
his leg in 47.5 seconds, but by
the time the baton got to Munley
for the third leg, the Wolverines
were battling to stay relevant in
the race.
“We were either the second
to last or last,” Munley said,
who finished his leg in 1:47.3.
“There were some really fast
guys (in the first two legs). We
were competing with guys that
were top in the nation. I was
hurting (in the last 200 meters),
but I was trying to get the baton
to (Ferlic). Once I did I was like,
‘Let’s see what you can do, I
tried my best.’ ”
The final leg, run by Ferlic,
was where the distance medley
relay team caught up to the
lead
pack.
Not
surprising,
considering the laundry list of
impressive performances he’s
had over his collegiate career.
His name is almost synonymous
with Michigan track and field.
Ferlic’s strategy was clear:
eyes forward, pass competitors
and go fast.
“Before I got the baton, I was
worried,” Ferlic said. “I had a
little bit of self-doubt because
the guys who were anchoring
the other DMRs were dedicated
milers. I was hoping to run
four flat. And if we were that
far behind, the pressure was on
to run just that much faster to
catch these guys. I didn’t know
if I was able to do that. But I
figured that we were here and
we had one shot and I can’t have
negative thoughts before I get
the baton because then we’re not
going to be in it.”
Ferlic has been angling to run
a sub-four mile for his entire
collegiate career, coming away
disappointed in the Iowa State
Classic, where he achieved his
standing personal best of 4:00.50.
But, while Ferlic has run a
1,600-meter race in 3:55, 1,600
meters isn’t a mile — it’s nine
meters short. And those nine
meters mean a lot to Ferlic,
who refuses, understandably, to
count 3:55 as meeting his goal.
“As soon as I finished in third
I was like, ‘Damn that actually
went pretty well,’ ” Ferlic said.
“But I still didn’t know the time
until I saw it flash on the board
and I saw 9:27, and I was like,
‘Holy crap, are you serious?’ ”
According to Barnett, there
were whispers that the time was
close to the school record set
more than a decade before — but
no one was sure.
It wasn’t until they were back
at their “camp” at the meet that
Sullivan thought to look up on
his phone what the standing
record was. And when he saw
the result, the entire distance
medley relay team was in shock.
“In a DMR, the legs are so
uneven you don’t really know
where you are in the race or on
the clock, so you don’t really get
a sense of what you’re doing until
after,” Barnett said. “We were
still on this high that we didn’t
only hit a national time, we hit
a really good national time and
then to come off that … there was
a lot of hugging and yelling.”
* * *
A lot of the success has been
chalked up to a culture change
on the team, partly due to the
new coaching staff of Clayton
and Sullivan in their third and
second years, respectively.
Sullivan, who also serves as
the Michigan men’s cross country
coach, is noted, especially, as
transitioning the team to a
more
inclusive
environment,
stemming
all
the way back
to training for
cross country
season.
“As a fifth-
year
senior,
I’ve definitely
been through
a lot and I’ve
definitely seen
the team go
from
a
last-
place, not-taken-seriously team
in the Big Ten to now possibly
contending for a top-three spot
in the Big Ten,” Washington said.
But according to both coaches
and Munley, the captains of the
team have also stepped up to the
line and have instituted team
bonding events like cookouts and
movie outings. Other changes
have included switching the
location of the athletes’ lockers
frequently to prevent cliques and
a whiteboard in the locker room
that lets the athletes keep track
of each other’s goals.
“You can literally go there,
read it and have that connection
with that person,” Washington
said. “And if you see them in
practice, you can encourage it.”
Added
Ferlic:
“With
that
culture
change
of
going
toward excellence and having
everyone on the team expected
to contribute, it kind of just
increased
the
competitive
atmosphere among all pockets of
athletes on the team. Everyone
now wanted to do their part to
help the team be good. I think
it united the team in a common
cause. Instead of it being certain
guys or one event group is good
and the other isn’t as good, we all
wanted to do well and motivate
each other.”
Within the four distance medley
relay team members, especially,
the sense of camaraderie is
palpable. The group joked that in
15 years, they’re still going to be
calling each other up asking how
they are.
Because, according to Barnett,
“it’s a lifelong thing.”
“To look up on the board
that’s up there right now and see
the names that are up there, it’s
pretty special to have a part in
it,” Barnett said. “It’s special to
be more of a piece (of the team),
not just someone who was here,
but someone who did something.
I still have goals for the next
couple years and stuff to get
done. But it’s cool to actually
leave that mark.”
And,
according
to
Washington, they’re “tight.”
Unabashedly,
the
quarter
informally thinks of themselves
as a “misfit crew.”
* * *
Despite the high the four
have been riding, there’s no
denying that the NCAA Indoor
Championships, where they’ll run
the distance medley relay again,
looms large. The competition
will take place March 11 and 12 in
Birmingham, Ala.
But if Clayton and Sullivan,
particularly, have taught their
team anything, it’s that each
race
should
be
approached
individually and you can’t “make
a race bigger than it is.” Sullivan
preaches that
no
matter
the
setting,
the
distance
medley
relay
will
still
always
be
4,000 meters.
“I
know
at
nationals,
when
I
get
the baton, I’m
going to run
until my legs break,” Munley said.
“I have to do it for these guys
because they’re working just as
hard as I am for it. You never know
what could happen, anything
could happen on any given day.
But I have to do my best and strive
for my hardest, and maybe some
good will come out of it.”
It’s going to take a lot
of practice, but nothing is
impossible
anymore.
The
four Wolverines have already
displaced
four
national
champions overlapped with two
Olympians.
“I don’t think people expected
us four,” Washington said.
“We’re this weird dream team
— we just ran faster,” Ferlic said.
And nobody on the distance
medley relay team is exactly sure
how they did it.
COURTESY OF THE MICHIGAN ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Michigan’s distance medley relay team broke the school record with a time of 9:27.67 in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday.
“I saw the
names, and ... I
thought, ‘That’s
not happening.’ ”
“We’re this
weird dream
team — we just
ran faster.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior forward Alex Kile scored a hat trick in Thursday’s win at Minnesota.
Kile’s hat trick
lifts Michigan
over Gophers
By MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editor
MINNEAPOLIS — For the
better part of two and a half
periods, the Michigan hockey
team
was
locked
in a tight
contest befitting of a series
that could decide the Big Ten’s
regular-season champion.
But with a furious scoring
run late in the third period, the
Wolverines cruised to a 6-2 win
over Minnesota at Mariucci Arena
on
Thursday,
vaulting
into
first place in
the conference
standings.
Junior forward
Alex
Kile
notched a hat
trick
with
one
goal
in
each
period,
and
freshman
forward Kyle Connor added two
goals of his own in the win.
For a 6-2 game, though,
Thursday’s contest was hardly
electric for the first two periods.
Michigan struck first when
Kile capitalized on a turnover
from
Minnesota
defenseman
Ryan Collins directly in front of
the Golden Gophers’ net. Collins
lost control of the puck while
surveying the ice in front of him,
and Kile made him pay, burning
Minnesota goalie Eric Schierhorn
on a bang-bang play.
“That’s a tough play,” Kile said.
“Sometimes the ice gets chippy,
and the puck just kind of rolled
off his stick. Kind of feel bad for
(Collins), but the puck was right in
the slot and I just faked backhand,
went forehand, and it actually hit
off his stick into the net.”
It was a big break for the
Wolverines, who finished the
period with a 9-6 edge in shots
on goal but were able to cash in
only once.
The second period was a
different story. Minnesota came
out firing, outshooting Michigan,
8-1, in the first eight minutes of the
second despite missing on a pair of
nifty chances directly in front of
senior goalie Steve Racine.
“We knew they were going to
come out hard,” Racine said. “I
think the first might have been
one of our better periods all year,
and they hadn’t played in a little
while, so I think they were just
getting their legs under them.
“We did a good job weathering
the storm.”
Racine kept Michigan steady
all game, stopping 31 of 33 shots
and preserving a slim lead while
the Wolverines’ offense tried to
get going.
Minnesota’s
Justin
Kloos
and Darian Romanko both had
chances to tie the game early in
the second, but Racine stoned
Romanko with a big left-pad save,
and Kloos couldn’t thread the
needle while streaking to the net
from the right boards.
The
Wolverines
weathered
the Golden Gophers’ storm until
their offense capitalized on its
first big chance of the period.
With Michigan on a power play
12:22 into the period, Kile tapped
home his second of the day off
a rebound from junior forward
Tyler Motte — whose goal streak
ended Thursday at 12 games.
Schierhorn poked the puck away
from Motte as he neared the goal,
but it went straight to the waiting
stick of Kile, who roofed it to give
Michigan a two-goal lead.
“He’s one of our gifted scorers,”
said
Michigan
coach
Red
Berenson. “The thing I like about
him
is
he
scored
those
blue-paint
goals.
Like
where did all
those
goals
come
from?
Right
near
the
crease,
right in tight,
rebound,
second-
effort goals. That’s where you’re
sticking your nose into the danger
areas and you’re paying the price
to score goals.”
Going into the break, Michigan
still held that lead, but the final
outcome was hardly decided.
That changed sharply halfway
through the third period. With
9:49 left, a fight broke out deep in
the Minnesota end. Michigan’s
Brendan
Warren
and
Justin
Selman were sent off for roughing
after the whistle, and Minnesota’s
Nick Seeler and Jack Glover were
awarded matching penalties. But
Glover was also given a penalty
for cross-checking, giving the
Wolverines a man advantage.
Michigan made the most of the
power play, going up 3-0 when
junior
forward
JT
Compher
found Connor all alone on the
right side of the crease for an easy
goal with 8:06 to play.
Kile added his third tally of the
game with just over five minutes
remaining, tapping in a rebound
for his 14th of the season, and
junior
forward
Max
Shuart
scored another with just under
four minutes left. Then, with
2:58 to play, Connor got loose on
a breakaway, beating Schierhorn
to go up 6-0.
Moments
later,
Minnesota
defenseman
Steve
Johnson
scored the Golden Gophers first
goal of the game, ending Racine’s
bid for a shutout. Michigan’s
defense collapsed with the huge
lead, and Tommy Novak scored
for Minnesota again with 1:32
left to spoil an otherwise strong
outing from Racine.
The Wolverines were more
than happy to emerge with the
conference lead, regardless of
the lost shutout.
“This wasn’t a 6-2 game,”
Berenson
said.
“Certainly,
it
could have been a different game
had Steve Racine had not made
some key saves at key times in the
game. … I just thought the score
didn’t indicate the game. They’re
a better team than that, and we
were lucky at times, and our
goalie had to make a difference.”
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
6
2
“I think the first
might have been
one of our better
periods all year.”