2015 Season Preview: Men's Cross Country
8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
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2015 OUTLOOK
U-M returns six of its seven runners from the NCAA Championships last fall, including four of its top five. Leading the way for the 2015 edition of the Maize and Blue is fifth-year senior Mason Ferlic, whose 13th-place finish in Terre Haute last fall made him the first back-to-back All-American in Maize and Blue since Nate Brannen (2002-03). He is coming off a strong track season which saw him capture the first two Big Ten titles in his career, the indoor 5,000-meter run and outdoor 3,000m steeplechase. The St. Paul, Minnesota, native was first team All-Big Ten for cross country in 2014, using a fourth-place individual finish to solidify U-M's runner-up showing, and he led U-M in all six scored events in which the varsity team competed, including a seventh-place run at regionals.
In 2015, he will be looked at to be a leader on and off the course with fellow fifth-year seniors August Pappas and Nick Posada, who have seven and five career postseason races under their respective belts. Pappas was U-M's third scorer at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet and NCAA Championships last fall, earning all-region honors.
Another important piece to the U-M puzzle will be junior Ben Flanagan, a 2014 co-captain returning with leadership and big race experience. Flanagan was a second team all-conference (13th) and all-region (10th with a new PR) performer as a sophomore, and he was among the first three Wolverines to cross the finish line in each race he competed in. That record of steady performance will be important -- U-M expects its top three runners to include Ferlic and Flanagan each weekend.
Though the Wolverines are heavy with experience in Ferlic, Flanagan, Pappas, Posada and senior Tony Smoragiewicz, the future is also bright. Junior/sophomore Aaron Baumgarten had a breakout season last year as a rookie, earning five top-25 finishes, including a pair of top-five showings. He was three places shy of a second team All-Big Ten honor, finishing 17th. His continued improvement, along with that of fellow redshirt sophomores Micah Beller , Connor Mora and several of their classmates, will be pivotal for U-M this fall.
Meanwhile, a group of seven Wolverines come off a redshirt freshman season looking for an opportunity to crack the squad's top group. All this experience and the new blood that consists of a half-dozen distance freshmen, including national-caliber recruit Ben Hill, will have to come together when the Wolverines head to camp at the U-M Bio Station this week.
STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH
Fifth-year Senior Mason Ferlic -- There is no question Ferlic is the leader of the Maize and Blue in 2015, with a pair of All-America honors already to his credit. His top-10 conference finishes over the last two seasons are padded by a pair of Big Ten titles on the track from this past spring, and he will have his eyes on the individual conference title amongst a tough field this November. With Ferlic leading the way, U-M figures to be in the mix at the top of the Big Ten again in 2015.
Last year, Ferlic became Michigan's first back-to-back cross country All-American in a decade with a 13th-place finish. He is also an All-America steeplechaser for the track and field team, and he won his first two conference titles this past spring (indoor 5K and outdoor steeplechase).
Fifth-year Senior August Pappas -- Pappas is another key fifth-year senior that will be critical for U-M this season, and his track record of success is a positive indicator for the Wolverines. The performance music/percussion major is a two-time All-Great Lakes Region honoree (2013-14) and was a major part of U-M's last regional title in 2013, when he finished 23rd overall.
Pappas has also shined in the classroom as a three-time academic all-conference recipient (2012-14), one-time Academic All-American and one-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2014).
Junior Ben Flanagan -- Flanagan really came into his own as a sophomore in 2014-15. Last fall, the Kitchener, Ontario, native was a team captain in just his second season. A 13th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships earned him second-team all-conference recognition, and he garnered all-region honors with a PR time and 10th-place finish.
On the track, he finished third at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in a breakthrough performance, with Ferlic as the runner-up. Aside from his personal accomplishments and contributions to team success, Flanagan has joined Ferlic among the team's leaders in the fall and among the distance group's leaders in the spring.
Redshirt-sophomore Aaron Baumgarten -- Baumgarten emerged as a strong runner for U-M last season in his first year competing. After redshirting in 2013, he began last year with a fourth-place finish at the season-starting Michigan Open. Baumgarten improved steadily and competed in all three postseason meets last year, finishing three places shy of second-team All-Big Ten honors (17th place).
He followed his postseason debut up with a 32nd-place finish at the regional meet, again falling not far from the cut line for all-region recognition, and he also competed at the NCAA meet. Baumgarten continuing his upward trajectory as a scorer for the Wolverines will benefit the team greatly this fall.
From left: August Pappas, Mason Ferlic, Ben Flanagan, Aaron Baumgarten
KEY COMPETITION
Wisconsin Adidas Invitational (Oct. 16), Madison, Wis.
U-M will get their spikes down early at the site of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, hosted by the Badgers for the fourth consecutive year. Despite most of the potential postseason lineup having seen the course over the last few seasons, it will be valuable for the team to see the course just five weeks before they return for the regional meet. Some of the Big Ten's best travel to Madison for this event, and the Maize and Blue will be among them this fall.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Kevin Sullivan
On the difference in preparation for his second season, and how familiarity helps the process of welcoming newcomers to the team ... "Now that we have a year under our belt and the upperclassmen know what the daily routine is like, they can help lead these guys instead of me having to coach everybody through warmups and drills and that has been helpful for me. We will be strong again this year. We are coming off a great year in 2014 and we return four out of our top five, which is nice, but we know a lot of other teams have gotten stronger throughout the country. To be successful, we are going to require a couple of our underclassmen to step up and fill a couple of gaps this year. It's important for us to take a little bit of time to evaluate where newcomers are; for the most part they did their work over the summer and are coming in at a good spot."
Junior Ben Flanagan
On welcoming the incoming freshmen and how he has seen the group come together so far ... "It's always interesting to meet the new class because first impressions can be everything. It's fantastic to see what the guys are like when they are most excited to join the program. One thing that is clearly evident is that this class has clearly bought-in off the bat. They fit in really well; a lot of them give the impression that they aren't new here. We always like to make sure the freshmen feel as comfortable as possible when they first get to campus and many of these guys feel like they are teammates already which is impressive. We are going to take this positive momentum into camp, get some good training hours in together and it should ease the transition even more."
2014 RECAP
The Wolverines responded exceptionally well under first-year coach Kevin Sullivan last fall, earning the team's best finish at the NCAA meet in a decade (11th). They surged in the national rankings throughout the season, peaking at No. 11 (Oct. 3), and earned a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships to go along with a third-place finish in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
Now the Maize and Blue return all key contributors from last year's team, led by Mason Ferlic, Ben Flanagan and August Pappas. Other key contributors should include Aaron Baumgarten, Tony Smoragiewicz and Nick Posada with the rising junior/sophomore class expected to contribute significantly. The Wolverines should build on an excellent 2014 and be among of the top teams in the conference, with their collective eyes on another strong finish at the NCAA Championships.
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
