Ferlic Earns Academic Award; Team, Seven Others Honored
7/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
July 28, 2016
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Departed fifth-year senior co-captain and reigning NCAA champion Mason Ferlic of the University of Michigan men's track and field team was recognized as one of four Division I Scholar Athletes of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), it was announced on Thursday (July 28). In addition, it was announced that the Wolverine team and seven additional individuals received All-Academic honors, the most in three seasons under head coach Jerry Clayton.
This marks a five-year high for the Michigan program with eight honorees and the fifth straight year that U-M has had multiple athletes earn the distinction. It is the first time since the USTFCCCA began awarding the honor in 2012 that U-M has earned the accolade as a team.
It is also the first time in program history that a Michigan student-athlete was recognized as one of the Division I Scholar Athletes of the Year. Ferlic is more than a deserving candidate, sporting a 3.607 GPA after earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering during his time at U-M. This year's NCAA champion and repeat Big Ten champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ferlic has also been recognized on the conference and national levels for his accomplishments in the classroom. He was awarded with the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship during the outdoor season.
Including the Scholar Athletes of the Year, a total of 570 men from 161 different institutions across the country earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for their combined academic and athletic accomplishments.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 or better and have met either of the following athletic standards: for the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org; for the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).
2016 USTFCCCA Individual All-Academic Honorees (8)
Aaron Baumgarten (Aerospace Engineering)
Micah Beller (Information)
Mason Ferlic (Aerospace Engineering)*
Ben Flanagan (Movement Science)
Connor Mora (Sport Management)
Brennan Munley (Undeclared)
August Pappas (Performance Music)
Blake Washington (Undeclared)
* Among four NCAA Division I Scholar Athletes for the Outdoor Season
With this year's announcement, Ferlic has now earned the distinction in each of his four letter-winning seasons in Maize and Blue, while Pappas and Mora have been awarded the honor for the second time in their careers.
A few notes about this year's honorees:
• This group was part of Michigan's most successful season since 1997, culminating in a pair of top-five Big Ten finishes (fourth indoors; second outdoors) for the program and a total of nine All-America citations (five indoors; four outdoors) with seven as first-team honors.
• As a program, they helped U-M tie for 13th in the nation at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, just the third top-15 national finish for the Wolverines in the last 55 seasons and the most complete and successful season of the Clayton era to this point, as U-M scored in every major discipline at the national meet.
• Ferlic (3,000-meter steeplechase) represented U-M at the U.S. Olympic Trials earlier this month, where he placed fifth overall, and his NCAA title was Michigan's first individual crown since 2007.
•; Seven of the eight honored Wolverines are three-sport athletes who also compete in cross country in addition to the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons (Baumgarten, Beller, Ferlic, Flanagan, Mora, Munley and Pappas).
• Three of Michigan's honorees were also recognized during the cross country season (Baumgarten, Ferlic, Flanagan) and all were in the lineup to help the Wolverines win their first Big Ten crown since the 1998 season.
• During Michigan's Big Ten Indoor Championship campaign, this group totaled 33 points towards U-M's team total of 71 and a fourth-place finish.
• Ferlic (5,000 meters) was a Big Ten champion indoors, and he added another two conference titles during the outdoor season in the 5,000-meter race and 3,000-meter steeplechase.
• Flanagan also won the 10,000-meter title outdoors, giving U-M the first steeplechase 5K-10K sweep by any conference program in one Big Ten Championship event since 1996. U-M was the only program to score in every middle-distance and distance event, a feat accomplished in three of four Big Ten Championships under assistant coach Kevin Sullivan.
• During Michigan's Big Ten Outdoor Championship weekend, this group contributed 39.25 points towards U-M's team total of 90.5 points and a runner-up finish.
• In addition to Ferlic's NCAA outdoor title in the steeplechase, Flanagan (10K) was an All-American, earning second-team accolades after a 14th-place finish.
Michigan's season has concluded, but Wolverines continue to represent the program on the international stage. Alumni Nate Brannen (2002-05; 1,500 meters; Canada), Jeff Porter (2004-07; 110-meter hurdles; USA) and Nick Willis (2003-05; 1,500-meters; New Zealand) will each represent the block M at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which begin Aug. 5 for opening ceremonies and run until Aug. 21.
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
