Steeplechaser Mason Ferlic aims for the stars on the track and in his field as an aerospace engineer

EUGENIO, Oregon. Mason Ferlic may someday boldly go where no obstacle course runner has gone before – space.

The 30-year-old with a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Michigan has aspirations of becoming an astronaut.

For now, that plan remains a galaxy away.

Ferlic’s focus was on the track Friday night at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but a sprained hamstring kept him out of the first round heat in the steeplechase and from making his second consecutive Summer Olympics.

Falls, falls and injuries happen, especially in the 3,000-meter race, which includes 28 relentless jumps over four fixed barriers and seven jumps over a water pit.

However, every time he falls, he gets up and only gets better. That’s why he already has his sights set on next season’s world championship.

“I’ve had some pretty iconic falls,” Ferlic said.who postponed applying to NASA this spring and put his doctoral work on hold in statistics at Michigan so he could focus on training. “But (falling) really builds character, having those moments where it’s humiliating. It makes you light the fire.

For a long time, Ferlic had a newspaper photo pinned to the bulletin board in his room. It was a photo from the 2015 NCAA championships, when Ferlic misjudged the water jump and fell head first into the pool.

A perfect 10 – if he was diving.

Ferlic finished last in that race, but that photo meant a lot to him for what it came to represent – that mistakes can and do happen. It’s how you respond and work that makes the difference. Ferlic quoted Ed Harris’ famous quote from the movie “Apollo 13,” when the actor’s NASA character said, “Failure is not an option.”

The following spring, Ferlic won the NCAA steeplechase.

Just an example of how to pull yourself together.

So did finishing 252nd out of 252 runners at the 2011 NCAA cross country championships his freshman year at Michigan. That could have sunk his spirits. But that only made him stronger. He became an All-American three years later.

A pivotal point in his career occurred around his sophomore year, when a Michigan coach recommended he try the steeplechase. It’s a grueling race where jumping over hurdles (36 inches high in the men’s race) and jumping into water only becomes more daunting as the race progresses.

“These barriers,” Ferlic explained, “suddenly appear to be six feet tall.”

The only thing harder than running the steeplechase might be explaining it.

“They’re like, ‘That’s the one with the horse jumping, right?’ Ferlic cracked. “I mean, I think we jumped wooden hurdles.”

There are two distinct sides to Ferlic – the analytical half and the artistic/racing half. Both give each other space.

The aerospace engineering part of him is data-driven and specializes in statistics. Ferlic works at the Data Science Decision Making Center for Dynamic Intervention in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There, he and the team are developing innovative ways to answer questions about mHealth and medicine. They are taking a flowchart approach to dictate decisions in real time.

“There is a very strong interest in using data to improve outcomes for people,” said Ferlic, who is from Minnesota and is get married in September.

For running, he prefers to be more organic. He is not constantly crunching numbers but goes with the flow.

“You would think my approach to running would also be this ultra-prescriptive, science-based, evidence-based program,” said Ferlic, who did some high-altitude training in Flagstaff, Arizona, to prepare for the trials and pulled a hamstring. of the thigh. about a week ago. “That I’m tracking everything and monitoring everything. I definitely went through a phase with this in my running career early on. But I actually moved in another direction.”

He listens to the philosophical approach by Ron Warhurst, the former Michigan coach who turns 81 in July. He’s so old-school, he’s broken, that he’s actually new-school now.

“It was just a little polished and they use different terms for it,” Warhurst said of the training methodology. “There is a lot more science involved than there was 20, 30 or 40 years ago. But the human body is still the same and still works the same way.”

Translation: Training isn’t always a science experiment.

“You need to listen to your internal clock and internal signal and use your intuition and instinct sometimes in training,” Ferlic said.

Ferlic was part of the 2021 Tokyo Games team, but the lack of fans and applause impacted him. He couldn’t help but focus on the red light of the NBC cameras, knowing that behind it were millions of fans tuning in. He didn’t come out of the drums.

“I applaud those who performed so well in Tokyo,” he said.

On his astronaut plans: Those are literally up in the air. His brother sent him an application to join the space program this spring, but the timing didn’t work out. It’s something Ferlic plans to explore after the Olympics and after continuing his doctoral work.

“It would be fun” to go to space, said Ferlic, who at 6 feet tall may be pushing the limits of the space station’s height restrictions. “A random pivot.”

Another could be waiting for him in the racing realm. He is thinking about switching to the marathon.

“I love the day,” Ferlic said, “when I don’t have to worry about a barrier (of obstacles) anymore.”

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