Men's Track & Field
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Coach
Mason Ferlic joins the Michigan coaching staff after one of the most decorated careers in recent Wolverine history. He became Michigan's first national title-winner since 2007 and just the second steeplechase champion in program history (Brian Diemer, 1983), when he ran the second-fastest time in U-M history (8:27.16) to solo the 2016 championship race, and he went on to place fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials that summer. Ferlic was named Michigan's Male Athlete of the Year for 2016 by MGoBlue.com, The Michigan Daily and The Wolverine, and signed a pro contract with Nike after the trials.
In his five years on campus, Ferlic received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering, accumulating six USTFCCCA All-Academic honors (two cross country, four track and field) and six Academic All-Big Ten accolades during his career. A three-season athlete, he was the recipient of the Big Ten and NCAA Postgraduate scholarships for 2016, and was Michigan's selection as the Big Ten Medal of Honor winner as well, the 20th in program history.
The Mounds Park, Minnesota, native was also a five-time USTFCCCA All-American with three first-team honors. He helped restore U-M's Distance Medley Relay (DMR) tradition to glory as a senior by helping to capture its first All-American finish since 2007, and ran the anchor leg of the school record-breaking relay earlier in the season, previously held by a relay team that featured three Olympians.
Ferlic owns five individual Big Ten titles in the indoor 5,000-meter run (2015-16), outdoor 5,000-meter run (2016) and the outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase (2015-16), and was the first athlete in men's program history to receive votes for The Bowerman Award.
Ferlic was a major component of Michigan's program turnaround in recent years under head coach Jerry Clayton. As a senior, he helped the team to a top-five indoor conference finish for the first time since 2009, and during the outdoor campaign U-M finished second in the Big Ten before tying for 13th nationally, the team's best finish since 1997 and just the second top-15 finish in the last 55 years. At the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, he became the first Big Ten athlete since 2002 to sweep the 5K and steeplechase events, and earned Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year and Track Athlete of the Championships recognition.
In cross country, he earned one national Athlete of the Week accolade, three All-Great Lakes Region honors (2013-14-15) and three All-Big Ten recognitions (first team; 2014-15, second team; 2013). In 2015, he helped the team to its most successful season in nearly 20 years by leading the Wolverines to their first Big Ten Title since 1998 and the program's first Big Ten and Great Lakes Regional title sweep since 1997, led by his individual title at the regional meet. In all, he tallied 11 Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors (six cross country; five track and field) during his career, and was the team's top-finishing athlete in each of the final 18 cross country races of his varsity career.
