1,500-metre champion
St. Mary’s grad goes from last to first in final lap
Her phone has been blowing up with a steady stream of congratulatory messages.
University of Michigan standout Jaimie Phelan, who made history by winning the 1,500-metre final at the NCAA track and field championship in Eugene, Ore., said she’s been overwhelmed by the kind words that have been directed her way since Saturday night’s race.
The well-wishers include Winnipeg Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba, who attended the University of Michigan, and National Hockey League great Bobby Orr, a family friend.
“It’s been unbelievable, all the support that I’ve been getting, messages from friends and family, from all over,” Phelan, a 21-yearold Kitchener native, said Monday.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for the all the people I have in my life right now.”
The St. Mary’s High School graduate went from last to first in the final lap at Hayward Field to become the first Michigan woman to win at that distance, the first woman from the Big 10 conference to win the race since 1995, and the first Michigan athlete to win at the NCAA championship since 2009.
With 13,000 spectators looking on, Phelan found an extra gear down the straightaway to win the race in four minutes, 13.78 seconds.
A photo finish was needed to determine Phelan had defeated Nikki Hiltz of Arkansas by .02 seconds, making it the secondclosest race in the event’s history.
A scoreboard posting confirmed the outcome and Phelan began a victory lap she will never forget. She “took everything in” as she made her way around the track, stopping to embrace Michigan teammates, her parents, Frank and Sherri, and Wolverines associate head coach Mike McGuire.
With that behind her, Phelan got together with eight of the women she had just raced against for a cool-down session that will be stored as another fond memory.
“Racing against these girls … a lot of us have become close,” she said.
Phelan returned to her family’s Kitchener home on Monday night and will participate Wednesday in an 800-metre race at the Speed River Inferno Track and Field Festival in Guelph. She’ll “shut it down” after that and return to Ann Arbor later this week to begin preparations for her fifth and final year at Michigan.
She hasn’t ruled out trying to compete at the Canadian championships in July, but her top priority at the moment is dealing with a nagging foot issue and getting ready for the cross-country season.
She has yet to decide what direction her athletic career will take after graduation.
“Right now, it’s one thing at a time. This weekend was really exciting but I’m kind of focusing more on the excitement with Michigan and repping that Block M (Michigan logo) right now,” she said.
In the races leading up to her national championship, Phelan won the Big 10 championship in 4:21.17 and finished sixth at the NCAA East preliminaries in 4:12.55. She ran a career-best time of 4:11.92 in a preliminary race at the NCAA championship.