Long-shot Flanagan kicks his way to NCAA title
Ben Flanagan started the race as a long shot and crossed the finish line as NCAA champion.
The Kitchener native, a fifthyear senior at the University of Michigan, used a massive kick over the final 150 metres at Hayward Field on Wednesday to pull off a shocking win in the 10,000metre race at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Ore.
Flanagan was seeded with the 23rd-fastest time in the 24-man field and chased down premeet favourite Vincent Kiprop of Alabama to win his first NCAA title.
A former cross-country and track standout at St. Mary’s High School, Flanagan crossed the finish line in 28:34.54 to shatter his previous-best time by 39 seconds and beat Kiprop by 0.46 of a second.
“Going into the race ... I really did believe that I had a shot at it and I spoke with Sully (Michigan distance coach Kevin Sullivan) about that the morning of the race and got some reassurance from him about it,” the 23-yearold Flanagan said Thursday in a conference call.
“We put together a race plan that’s like ‘all right, if we’re going to contend for the title, here’s how we want to do it.’ When you set a race plan like that, sometimes it goes according to plan and sometimes it doesn’t. Fortunately, this one did and I couldn’t really have asked for a better result. It was an amazing day.”
The national championship caps a remarkable bounceback season for Flanagan, who last year battled a foot injury and sacral stress fracture in his lower back. He won the 10,000-metre race at last month’s Big 10 championship and earned All-America honours and a regional title during his final cross-country season. Unintentionally, Flanagan become something of an internet sensation following his win when an ESPN television camera captured him celebrating and saying, “Where’s my mom? Where’s my mom? Mom! Mom!”
Flanagan’s mother, Michelle, was in the crowd of 9,767 spectators — along with Ben’s father, Ron, and uncle, Don — and the two shared an emotional embrace on live television. As a result, Michelle has done a few interviews of her own, including a question-and-answer piece with Sports Illustrated.
“As soon as I crossed the finish line, the first thing that crossed my mind was, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to share this moment with my mom so bad,’” Flanagan said.
“She’s been so supportive my entire life, in athletics and outside athletics, and having her there to watch that performance — and obviously my dad and uncle as well — it means so much to me.”
Flanagan said he also drew inspiration from Jaimie Phelan, his close friend and former teammate at St. Mary’s, who attended Michigan and won the NCAA championship last year in the women’s 1,500-metre race.
Phelan’s come-from-behind victory was also a surprise, which helped Flanagan believe he could replicate her feat.
The two exchanged pleasantries following Wednesday’s race and again Thursday.
Flanagan said he will take a bit of time to figure out his next move but expects he will compete at the Canadian track and field championships in August with an eye on representing his country at future competitions.
“I want to train post-collegiately, I really want to try to make the next step and accomplish my dreams and goals of representing Canada at the highest level I can,” he said.
Flanagan expects he will rely heavily on the guidance of Sullivan, a three-time Olympian from Brantford who enjoyed a hugely successful career at Michigan and returned to his alma mater in 2014 as head coach of the men’s cross-country team.