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

