Michigan
NCAA Preliminary Rounds
Ferlic, McLaughlin Punch Tickets to NCAA Outdoors
5/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 27, 2016
» Ferlic is offering fans a way to follow his progress as the U.S. Olympic Trials near (July 1-10) in a weekly training blog, the first edition of which was posted today.
» Taylor McLaughlin (400-meter hurdles) punched tickets to the NCAA Championships next month as a true freshman, running 49.84 for the No. 4 time in the region.
» Athletes and relays require a top-12 individual finish to advance to the NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Oregon.
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Site: Jacksonville, Fla. (Hodges Stadium)
Event: NCAA East Region Preliminary Rounds (Day 2)
U-M Team Result: Non-scoring
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 28 -- at NCAA East Region Preliminary Rounds - Day 3 (Jacksonville, Florida), 6:30 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team continued events at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium on Friday (May 27), competing across four events in NCAA East Preliminary Round action. U-M produced two NCAA Outdoors qualifiers -- fifth-year senior co-captain Mason Ferlic (3,000-meter steeplechase) and true freshman Taylor McLaughlin (400-meter hurdles) -- who earned U-M's third and fourth bids of the weekend after Joe Ellis (hammer) and Ben Flanagan (10K) punched their tickets on day one.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
In the 400-meter hurdles, McLaughlin ran the No. 4 time in the region (49.84), finishing second in his heat to punch his ticket to Eugene.
"It's exciting to be able to go as a freshman and to be able to run in Oregon is a big deal," said McLaughlin. "I was just trying to replicate the intensity I had at the Big Ten Championships, getting out and attacking those first five hurdles as much as possible. I think I was able to do that, but I was a little shaky so I can fix a few things and adjust my mentality a bit and hopefully get down to the lower 49s."
After running 49.80 two weeks ago to win his first career Big Ten title, McLaughlin is getting used to seeing sub-50 times on the board, but he did not necessarily expect to be here so soon.
"The time is a surprise," he said. "I definitely wasn't expecting to get down into the 49s so soon, and I think there's more, so I can go even lower and just see how far I can take things this year. Coach (Steven) Rajewsky has meant a lot (to my development), he is one of the main reasons I'm here. We'll try and go fix those last few hurdles, and that will mean even taking even more time off."
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ferlic lived up to the billing as the No. 1 NCAA seed with his facility-record time of 8:29.54, his second race under the Olympic Standard of 8:30 this season.
For not having been focused on time, Ferlic was pleased to see another sub-8:30 mark.
"It's another confidence-booster for sure," he said. "I ran 8:28 at Stanford, and a lot of guys run one-off PBs there, so to be only a second slower here -- I'm feeling great about it. The race played out pretty much exactly how I thought it would, and it's a great indication of my fitness going into NCAAs."
Ferlic took charge early but was challenged quickly by Jakob Abrahamsen of Eastern Kentucky. Ferlic let Abrahamsen lead the way for a short while but never strayed far and moved shoulder to shoulder with him with three-plus laps to go. He stayed patient and controlled, waited to make his move and opened up his short lead by the bell lap.
That lead grew over the final few turns, and Ferlic crossed the line in nearly five seconds ahead of his next-closest competitor, showing his mettle to the rest of the NCAA East.
"I thought it was a pretty good performance under the lights tonight," he said afterwards, "it's a Friday night with a great atmosphere, and even though it was a little humid, we came to Florida to get some business done."
With U-M now having four tickets punched already, Ferlic is excited at the prospect of another strong group of Wolverines representing the Maize and Blue at the national meet.
"It's awesome for Michigan," said Ferlic, "It's great to see my teammates meet their goals and survive and advance, and it sure makes the trip a lot more fun when you have a good contingent of guys competing. I love that -- the guys who have made it so far work hard and deserve this, so hopefully we'll get a couple more in tomorrow."
Junior/sophomore Connor Mora also competed for U-M, timing 8:56.13 to finish 23rd.
THROWS
In the javelin, senior/junior Stephen Burk made his return to Jacksonville after an injury kept him from competition in 2015. Burk outperformed his seed, finishing 32nd (61.38 meters; 201-4 ft.) after entering the weekend seeded 37th.
In the discus, junior/sophomore Grant Cartwright and fifth-year senior Derek Sievers both competed for U-M, with Sievers outperforming his seed to place 32nd overall (51.13 meters; 167-9 ft.). Cartwright battled rain through his last two throws and could not manage a clean attempt, but he is seeded eighth in his stronger event, tomorrow's shot put. Both he (heat three) and Sievers (heat two), U-M's indoor record holder, will compete beginning at 6 p.m.
Events conclude at Hodges Stadium on Saturday (May 28), beginning with the shot put at 6 p.m., featuring Sievers and Cartwright. U-M has athletes in the 5K (three; 8:45 p.m.) and 4x400-meter relay (9:45 p.m.) as well.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Taylor McLaughlin, true freshman & NCAA Qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles. Watch his post-race interview here:
https://t.co/y2ekbg0EHu-- Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) May 28, 2016
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
