Olympic Steeple Standard Another Notch in Ferlic's Belt
5/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 5, 2016
By Chad Shepard
When Mason Ferlic crossed the finish line at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational on Sunday (May 1), he was disappointed.
Most people would be elated in that moment: he'd just run 3,000 meters while clearing 28 barriers and seven water pits to finish the fastest steeplechase of his life with an NCAA-leading time, a PR of more than four seconds and the No. 2 performance in Michigan history, all while running in a professional field. But Ferlic's goals for last weekend weren't personal goals or Michigan goals or even national goals -- that string of accomplishments was little more than a series of uninteresting asides.
Ferlic had entered the race with the mission of meeting the Olympic standard (8:30) in the steeple, and as he crossed the line, he was under the impression he'd missed out. He and assistant coach Kevin Sullivan believed the standard was 8:28, and his time of 8:28.77 was agonizingly close, but in track and field, results are black and white.
Not good enough.
It wasn't for another 10 or 15 minutes, after he was congratulated by a coach from another school, that Ferlic's perception of the standard was corrected and he got the news that he had indeed accomplished his goal -- one that would make his road to Rio a much simpler one.
Had Ferlic only met the American trials standard (8:32) instead of the Olympic benchmark, he'd still need to put down a sub-8:30 race at some point between now and the trials or record that mark in the trials race itself. Now, a top-three finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, later this summer (July 1-10) will produce an automatic Olympic bid for the Wolverine co-captain.
"All of the sudden it went from 'mediocre' to an 'all-right' race," said Ferlic. "It was definitely enough to put a smile back on my face."
Ferlic can spend the postseason of his senior season at Michigan running more tactical races; he no longer has to be preoccupied with pacing and time, which removes at least one degree of pressure from the championship phase of the season. Now, it's all about winning and scoring for Michigan.
"Getting the Olympic standard is huge for me going into the rest of the season," said Ferlic.
"If I'm expecting to run well in July and maybe into August, it's great for me to have that checked off so that I can focus on training by going to back to basics, staying sharp and staying fit for the bigger races coming up."
The fact that Ferlic initially felt disappointed after an effort that set another personal best, moved him further into the Michigan record books and claimed the No. 1 seed in the NCAA says a lot about his competitive fire. He was unsatisfied by those accomplishments; they were just byproducts of the pursuit of his real goals.
The St. Paul, Minnesota, native has been squarely in the center of the program's cultural turnaround. The locker room thrives on creating competition at every possible opportunity, and Ferlic embodies the approach that head coach Jerry Clayton and staff have made every effort to instill at the heart of the Wolverine program.
"In our program we talk about competing at an elite level," said Sullivan, "and whether we are talking to recruits or guys on the team, Mason is an example of how we want to approach things -- professionally. He's a direct result of how we're approaching training, lifestyle and really putting a lot of focus into the performance side of things."
That professional mindset paid off last Sunday, when Ferlic turned in his historic race. Despite feeling a little bit flat headed into the event -- something he attributes to the stage of his training cycle he is in and the hot, dry, 80-degree weather that his body hasn't trained in for months -- the five-time Michigan co-captain still ran an NCAA-leading time that fit more than a full second under the Olympic standard for the 2016 Games.
He got out toward the back of the field but worked his way around the pack smoothly and made an early move into the top five about 800 meters into the race. When the pace was slow in the early going, he even took the lead for a short while.
"He was with a bunch of professional guys and was willing to take a turn up front," said Sullivan. "You just don't see a lot of guys still at the NCAA level who are willing to do that right now."
Sullivan (left) and Ferlic
His strong close has been a trend this season, and that continued at Stanford. Ferlic motored down the final straightaway and nearly caught U-M alum (2008-12) and Asics pro Craig Forys at the line (8:28.73). Ferlic had to settle for passing him in the record book instead; Forys had been tied for the No. 2 performance in U-M history (8:28.90).
That drive can only come from within. It's the dangling carrot, the ever-moving, self-imposed goals that make Ferlic better each time he steps on the track. He's PRed in every race he's run this year for Michigan. Naturally, he has a coach whose thought process fits this philosophy.
"I think there are still four or five seconds in the tank the next time he gets out there," said Sullivan.
"He was in a spot he actually hasn't experienced before -- running five-second PRs and Olympic standards. If you remove the pressure from that it's going to allow him to run more mentally relaxed next time around."
Ferlic thinks so, too, and he'll have a chance to prove it before long. The Big Ten Outdoor Championships are on the horizon (May 13-15), and he has a title to defend while the Wolverines try to close their best season since 2009 on a strong note. Next, the NCAA postseason comes, and he'll seek to redeem himself in Eugene. He'd also like another shot at 1984 U.S. Olympian and Michigan Track and Field Hall of Famer Brian Diemer's program record of 8:22.13.
"I'm confident that as the season progresses I can take another crack at it," Ferlic said.
The target moves again and more goals are set, but even Ferlic won't pretend this one didn't mean a little more.
"It's big for me," he says, "and it's also huge for Michigan to have a guy wearing the block M and competing so well on the national level. Fans, other schools, recruits, they pay attention and notice that. It fits Michigan's image; we want to be trending toward that elite status and show that we develop guys who are looking to compete at the highest level, even after college."
That's Mason Ferlic -- always looking at the bigger picture, never satisfied with the face value of anything.
"Now I have one less thing to worry about," said Ferlic. "I can focus on championship racing and accomplishing my goals at the Big Ten meet and nationals before I head to trials.
"We have bigger goals down the road."
Players Mentioned
