Ferlic wins championship in
3,000-meter steeplechase

By MIKE PERSAK

Daily Sports Writer

Mason
Ferlic
landed
awk-

wardly in the final water pit of the
3,000-meter steeplechase at the
NCAA Outdoor Championships in
Eugene, Ore., on Friday. All of his
momentum had been lost, and the
fifth-year senior distance runner
knew that he would have to get it
back quickly in order to keep his
lead and win the national champi-
onship.

At least he thought that’s what

was necessary.

“At that point the legs were very,

very heavy,” Ferlic said. “I didn’t
move as quickly as I wanted to the
line, and I know that I had about
ten seconds on the next guy coming
into the bell lap, but I was thinking
‘Oh, come on. Just get to the line
before somebody comes around
me.’ ”

Despite the stumble, Ferlic fin-

ished the race 3.51 seconds ahead
of the second-place finisher to win
just the second national champi-
onship for Michigan in the 3,000-
meter steeplechase — 33 years after
the Wolverines’ first title in 1983.

Though the race ended in a way

that, according to Ferlic, made him
nervous, the hardest part of the day
was before he even stepped on the
track.

“The worst part is the eight hours

in the hotel room leading up to the
race,” Ferlic said. “With an evening
race, you eat your breakfast, and it
is just you and your thoughts that
whole time. I just tried to distract
myself by doing something else
while sitting around.

“I did some crossword puzzles,

watched a little bit of ‘Alaskan Bush
People’ and read a little bit. I just
(did) some things to keep my mind
off of the race.”

But once it came to running

the actual race, Ferlic had almost
no trouble, opening up a big lead
before he had even finished his sec-
ond lap.

Ferlic’s success wasn’t necessar-

ily a surprise, as he entered the race
ranked No. 1 in the country in the
event. What did surprise Ferlic and
his coaches, though, was the lack of
a push from the rest of his competi-
tors.

“I was a little bit surprised that

nobody went with the early move
that he made,” said Michigan assis-
tant coach Kevin Sullivan. “But he
was running at a level above a lot
of guys, and that’s just his natural
ability. So it didn’t surprise me that
he built up a lead, it just surprised
me that nobody challenged ini-
tially.”

And the challenge never came.

Though the slight mishap at the
end of the race may have cost Ferlic
in margin of victory, his time of

8:27.16 was a new personal record,
besting his old mark by 1.61 sec-
onds.

Ferlic’s time was also below the

Olympic standard of 8:30 for the
event. Though it isn’t his first time
running below that mark, he is the
only collegiate athlete to run under
8:30 in the 3,000-meter steeple-
chase.

But in the end, Ferlic mostly

focused on winning the national
championship, a feat that he has
been working toward for five years
at Michigan.

“I remember that feeling viv-

idly,” Ferlic said. “Stepping on the
line, I said, ‘Hell yeah. I just won
the national championship in front
of 10,000 people.’ ”

Added Sullivan: “He puts his

mark on the board as another
national champion. There’s a lot of
great history in our program, and a
lot of fantastic national champions.
But now, Mason gets to add himself
to that list.”

Ferlic’s season isn’t done by any

means. He will now train for his
return trip to Eugene in the first
week of July for the Olympic Trials.

But Ferlic can enter that train-

ing process with great confidence
now knowing that, even with a bit
of a stumble, he ran his best time at
the end of the season to reach his
ultimate goal: becoming a national
champion.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Mason Ferlic finished his career as an NCAA champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Romero, Ferlic named
Athletes of the Year

By ORION SANG

Summer Managing Sports Editor

Wednesday, the Michigan Ath-

letic Department named Mason
Ferlic and Sierra Romero the 2015-
16 Athletes of the Year.

For Romero, this marks the sec-

ond consecutive year she has been
named the Female Athlete of the
Year.

The senior second baseman

recently finished her storied col-
lege career, during which she broke
numerous school and national
records while also leading her team
to three appearances in the Wom-
en’s College World Series — includ-
ing a runner-up finish in 2015.

In her final season in Ann Arbor,

Romero became the first player in
NCAA history to tally 300 runs,
300 hits and 300 RBI, while posting
a .451 batting average with 19 home
runs and 79 RBI.

For her efforts, she was named

to the NFCA All-American team for
the fourth time in her career, while
also winning the ASA Softball Play-
er of the Year award after finishing
as a top-three finalist in each of the
previous two years.

Ferlic is coming off a weekend in

which he won the NCAA Champi-
onship in the 3,000-meter steeple-
chase, marking the culmination of
a brilliant senior year that also saw
him post a U.S. Olympic Trials qual-
ifying time in the steeplechase.

Ferlic, also a senior, finished his

career at Michigan as both a five-
time
USTFCCCA
All-American

and Big Ten champion in track, as
well as a two-time USTFCCCA All-
American in cross country. He was
a two-year captain of both teams,
and helped lead the cross country
team to its first Big Ten title in 18
years.

MARINA ROSS/Daily

Sierra Romero was named Female Athlete of the Year for the second straight year.

11

Thursday, June 16, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS