Flanagan Named Great Lakes Region Athlete of the Year
11/14/2017 3:48:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Following up on his individual victory at last Friday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional, University of Michigan men's cross country redshirt senior Ben Flanagan on Tuesday (Nov. 14) was named the Great Lakes Regional Athlete of the Year for the 2017 cross country season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Flanagan, who hails from Kitchener, Ontario, emerged as the top choice in a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches from the 25 programs represented in the Great Lakes Region. As the region's top runner, he will be honored at the pre-NCAA Cross Country Championships banquet this Thursday (Nov. 16), ahead of the championship race on Saturday (Nov. 18) at 11:45 a.m.
The redshirt senior became the fifth man in program history to win the Great Lakes Regional last Friday as he pulled away from the field in the final kilometer of the 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) race in Terre Haute, Indiana, to cross the line in 30:54.0. He joined the ranks of former Wolverine regional champions, which include four-time winner -- and current head coach -- Kevin Sullivan, John Mortimer, Nate Brannen and Mason Ferlic.
The regional victory followed a season, up to that point, that featured a sixth-place individual finish at the Big Ten Championships to lead the Wolverines to the team title, and finishes no lower than 22nd in any other meet this season. His win at regionals was the third individual crown of the season for him, including victories at the Michigan Open and the NC State Adidas XC Challenge.
Flanagan -- no stranger to the 10K distance as a three-time NCAA Cross Country Championships competitor and the 2016 Big Ten outdoor 10,000-meter champion -- will look to cap his cross country career with his first All-America honors on the trails on Saturday (Nov. 18) in Louisville, Kentucky.
In his three prior appearances at the NCAA Championships, he finished 83rd as a junior in 2015, 64th as a sophomore in 2014 and 99th as a freshman in 2013. He was a scoring member of ninth- and 11th-place teams in 2015 and 2014.
Flanagan and the Wolverines will finish their season this Saturday with the NCAA Cross Country Championships at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville. The women's race goes off at 10:45 a.m., followed by the men's race at 11:45 a.m. Both meets can be streamed live with a Flotrack Pro subscription, and fans can follow the meet with live results from Record Timing and social media updates from @UMichTrack on Twitter and Instagram.
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