Bia Simbassa, Ben Blankenship, and Mason Ferlic among the 65 who earned USATF T& F Foundation Elite Athlete Development Grants

Bia Simbassa, Ben Blankenship, and Mason Ferlic among the 65 who earned USATF T& F Foundation Elite Athlete Development Grants HERE

USATF Minnesota August Athletes of the Month

Mason Ferlic

Laura Utke

MENDOTA HEIGHTS – In his Falmouth debut, Minnesotan Mason Ferlic put together two great performances on back-to-back days, earning him USATF Minnesota’s Athlete of the Month Award for the month of August. First, on Saturday, August 19th Ferlic placed 7th in a very deep field at the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile with a time of 4:05.82. Then on Sunday the 20th, the next day, Ferlic placed 6th at the legendary Falmouth Road Race in a time of 34:14 for the 7-mile distance. Over the years few athletes have been bold enough to attempt this double, let alone see the success Ferlic did with two top seven finishes.
 
Ferlic is a 2011 graduate of Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, and was a 3-time Minnesota State Champion and 5-time All-State honoree in track & field, as well as a State Champion and 2-time All-State honoree in cross country. Ferlic was also the 2011 Minnesota Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year. While competing collegiately at the University of Michigan, Ferlic was a 5-time All-American in cross country and track & field, and was also the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Champion in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. More recently, Ferlic finished 9th at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, and was 5th at last year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 3,000 meter steeplechase as well.
 
On August 5th-6th, Laura Utke, a 1999 graduate of Concordia College in Moorehead, Minnesota, won the Masters National Title for the Throws Pentathlon in the Women’s 40-44 age group at the 2017 USATF Masters Throws Championships in Worcester, Massachusetts, earning her the honor of USATF Minnesota’s August Athlete of the Month. A lifelong thrower and competitor, Utke is currently ranked #1 in the world in the Ultra Weight Pentathlon and #4 in the world in the Throws Pentathlon.
 
While competing as a Cobber, Utke was a two-time Division III All-American thrower in the hammer throw and the weight throw and was Concordia’s first MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Champion ever. She is also still the Cobber school record holder in the weight throw. Additionally, she was a 2-time Academic All-American while carrying a 3.85 GPA in Physical Education and Psychology.

Congratulations to Mason and Laura! 
 
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Minnesota’s Athlete of the Month award, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to mskuzara@csbsju.edu with the subject line “Athlete of the Month Nomination”.

Fans can follow along with USATF Minnesota on Facebook, Twitter, and online at www.minnesota.usatf.org.

Ben Blankenship 3rd, Mason Ferlic 19th in 5th Avenue Mile

Ben Blankenship 3rd, Mason Ferlic 19th in 5th Avenue Mile
Results HERE.

Mason Ferlic 6th, Garrett Heath 40th; Heather Kampf 20th at Falmouth 7-Mile.

Mason Ferlic 6th, Garrett Heath 40th, Heather Kampf 20th in Woman's race at the Falmouth 7-Mile.  Results HERE.

Heather Kampf (left), Kate van Buskirk(right)

Heather Kampf 7th in Women's Falmouth Mile; Garrett Heath 4th, Mason Ferlic 7th in Men's

Falmouth Mile results HERE.

Mason Ferlic Scores Points in the Opening Meet of the TrackTown Summer Series.

Mason Ferlic Scores Points in the 3K of the Opening Meet of the TrackTown Summer Series.
Results HERE

Mason Ferlic runs with the kids

USATF Outdoor Track Championships Day 4 Results

USATF Outdoor Track Championships Results HERE

Maggie Ewen 2nd in the Hammer Throw
Laura Roesler 7th in the 800
Mason Ferlic 9th in the 3K Steeple

Gopher Women's Summary HERE

USATF Outdoor Track Championships Day 2 Results

 USATF Outdoor Track Championships Day 2 Results  HERE

Mason Ferlic 12th in 3K Steeple, 3rd in heat
Laura Roesler 4th in heat, 7th overall in 800

USATF Championships Men's Form Charts

USATF Championships Men's Form Charts HERE

Ben Blankenship, Hassan Mead, Mason Ferlic, Garrett Heath, Bia Symbassa are ranked among the top 10. Mead in two events.

Ben Blankenship Wins in Birmingham; Mason Ferlic 6th in 5K

Another WL in Birmingham. This time it's @benfblankenship who takes the win over 1500m in 3:36.42

Also Australian and Swedish NRs! pic.twitter.com/dGppmYLZPT

— IAAF (@iaaforg) February 18, 2017

YESSSS!!!@benfblankenship just won the 1500m at #MullerIndoorGPBham in a WL 3:36.42!!! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ae68LpNiLY

— TrackTown USA (@GoTrackTownUSA) February 18, 2017

Garrett Heath 7th in 1500
Results HERE.

USATF XC Championships Results

USATF XC Championships Results HERE

Gopher summary of Junior Men's Champs HERE
Women's 10K HERE
Ladia Albertson-Junkans 18th
Meghan Peyton 25th
Bria Wetsch 39th
Men's 10K HERE
Mason Ferlic 7th
Jonathan Grey 12th
Abiya Simbassa 15th
Patrick Smyth 31st
Trent Lusignan 41st
Robert Molke 43ed

Top 10 in the men's junior race! #usatfxc pic.twitter.com/wgABR0aqcV

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 4, 2017

Ladia Albertson-Junkans

Mason Ferlic 6th, Will Leer 8th, Alisha Praught Leer 9th in The Inaugural Kalakaua Merrie Mile

The Kalakaua Merrie Mile results HERE. 

(handicap race format at elite women started 27 seconds before the men.)

Edwin Kiptoo wins #merriemile in 3:57.4 #waikiki #honolulumarathon pic.twitter.com/SlG1SSUzLm

— Honolulu Marathon (@HNLmarathon) December 10, 2016

Mason Ferlic Blending Athletics and Academics

Mason Ferlic Blending Athletics and Academics HERE.

Minnesotans Competing in NYRR 5th Avenue Mile Elite Races

Heather Kampf, Ben Blankenship, and Mason Ferlic running in the Elite races at the NYRR 5th Avenue Mile HERE

Mason Ferlic 2nd in TrackTown Summer Series Steeplechase; Harun Abda 3rd in 800; Ben Blankenship 3rd in the 1500

Mason Ferlic ran a PR to place second in the inaugeral TrackTown Summer Series meet. He ran a PR of 8:21.57. Results HERE.
Haron Abda was third in the 800 in 1:45.7 Results HERE.
Ben Blankenship third in the 1500 in 3:35.02. also a PR.
Full results HERE.
Team Scores HERE.

BREAKING: @masonferlic has gone pro with @NikeRunning today. Finished second with a 6 second PR #SummerSeries pic.twitter.com/xvrWe2r0II

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 30, 2016

Big PR for @okaycolby !
He grabs precious 1st place points in the 1500m for #TeamSanFran pic.twitter.com/Nz1pKgoc2q

— TrackTown USA (@GoTrackTownUSA) July 30, 2016

Mason Ferlic Selected as One of Four NCAA DI Scholar Athletes of the Year

Ferlic Named as Scholar Athlete of the Year, 7 Others, plus Men's Team named All-Academic
» https://t.co/tRJ8TtS1mU pic.twitter.com/jcSUipdnKd

— Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) July 28, 2016

Mason Ferlic to Run in the TrackTown Summer Series Steeple

Excited to race the Steeple at the @GoTrackTownUSA #SummerSeries this Friday! New format, historic venue, and action packed! #TeamPortland

— Mason Ferlic (@masonferlic) July 26, 2016

US Olympic Trials Day 7 Results

US Olympic Trials Day 7 Results HERE

Men's 1500 Semis
Ben Blankenship 1st in heat 2 in 3:44.24. Qualifies for final

#Gophers great @benfblankenship runs 3:44.24 in the #TrackTown16 1500 semis, fastest qualifying time. pic.twitter.com/ZlU1IgY562

— Minnesota M CC/TF (@GopherMCCTF) July 8, 2016

Onwards. #TrackTown16
📷@GoTrackTownUSA pic.twitter.com/kkEU3syEu4

— Benjamin Blankenship (@benfblankenship) July 9, 2016

Women's Pole Vault
Leslie Brost 7th clearing 4.40m/14'5.25"qualifies for final

.@LeslieBrost is HEADED TO THE FINALS after her 7th place finish in pole vault @ #TrackTown16!

Photo: @McCarthysan pic.twitter.com/3x0YvBfpPo

— TwinCities TrackClub (@TwinCitiesTC) July 9, 2016

Women's 1500 semis
Gabe Grunewald 6th in heat 1 in 4:11.86. qualifies for final
Heather Kampf 10th in heat 1 in 4:13.28 does not qualify for finals

I made the final. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! @brooksrunning #runhappytorio #tracktown16

— gabriele grunewald (@gg_runs) July 9, 2016

I'm at a loss. In many ways this has been a perfect season with great races and even better workouts. Rather than... https://t.co/6QsovEyk5l

— Heather Kampf (@HeatherRaeKampf) July 9, 2016

Gabe Grunewald after Making It to 1500 Final at 2016 Olympic Trials: https://t.co/e7W0JWySht via @YouTube

— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) July 9, 2016

A calf issue hampered @HeatherRaeKampf in the last week just enough to take her edge off, but she still competed like the champion she is.

— Team USA Minnesota (@TeamUSAMN) July 9, 2016

Men's steeplechase final
Mason Ferlic 5th in 8:30.03

Ferlic, Forys Top Six in Olympic Trials Steeplechase; Porter Advances in Eugene

Recap » https://t.co/V2uXrga38d pic.twitter.com/2bw4tgShXb

— Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) July 9, 2016

Daily Relay Photo gallery HERE 

Sarah Barker Takes You on a Trip Through Tracktown USA

Sarah Barker Takes You on a Trip Through Tracktown USA HERE

Olympic Trials Day 4 Results

Olympic Trials Day 4 Results HERE

Riley Dozal 3rd with a throw of 79.67/261'4" On the Olympic Team
Women's Steeplechase prelims
Maddie Van Beek 16th in 9:49.56. did not qualify for final
Jamie Cheever 24th in 10:01.46.  did not qualify for final

I'm in the best shape of my life, but ran the the worst nats of my life. anything can happen on race day. thanks for the support y'all.

— Jamie Cheever (@JamieCheever) July 5, 2016

Men's Steeplechase prelims
Mason Ferlic 2nd in heat 2 qualified for final

.@masonferlic, @craigforys on to Friday's Steeplechase Final at #USOlympicTrials

RECAP » https://t.co/uEE0QxBbv9 pic.twitter.com/f6cQ45zIhG

— Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) July 5, 2016

Women's Triple Jump prelims

Amanda Smock 11th jumping 13.44m/44'1.25" qualified for final

Phew! Got through for more fun on Thursday! Counting my blessings, ready for more. https://t.co/6Gr39VGH6U

— Amanda Smock (@AJTSMOCK) July 5, 2016

Men's 5K prelims
Hassan Mead 4th in second heat in 13:48.81 qualified for final
Garrett Heath 8th in first heat in 13:50.63 qualified for final
Biya Simbassa 11th in first heat in 13:53.56. did not qualify for final

@_garrettheath up next in 5k semifinal. pic.twitter.com/Guw2LLkzR1

— RunMDRA (@RunMDRA) July 5, 2016

Pretty proud of how @Biya_simba35 competed in his first US Olympic Trials! https://t.co/nwYOrIGp8F

— Dennis Barker (@dbinsaintpaul) July 5, 2016

Men's 800

Harun Abda 7th in 1:47.05

@Ha_RunAbda finishes 7th. pic.twitter.com/HGhMZbF1rl

— RunMDRA (@RunMDRA) July 5, 2016

😱😱😱@Clayton_Murph wins the men's 800M Final in 1:44.76! #RoadToRio pic.twitter.com/gX8f0ddSLO

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) July 5, 2016

Gopher women's summary HERE.
Eugene Register Guard Day 4 Photo Gallery HERE