Years have passed since Steve Flint stamped his name all over Bayfield High School Athletics.
So many, in fact, that current and still-prospective Wolverines were still in elementary school "back then," possibly only hearing stories of, and having never actually seen the first BHS harrier to capture a state cross-country championship.
Well young 'uns (and older 'uns), Bayfield's still a Class 3A program athletically, and Steve Flint is still.well.Steve Flint. Though only he knows where life and legs will take him now.
Competing at the June 10-13 NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Flint officially exhausted his collegiate athletic eligibility in style. He placed 10th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, helping Brigham Young University's 18th-ranked men's team place 13th at the season-ending showdown.
One of a dozen making last Friday's 4:57 p.m. final, Flint clocked 8 minutes, 54.80 seconds in his last all-terrain jaunt as a Cougar senior. Running in the final heat were the top five individuals from each of two preliminary heats (Flint was in the faster first, and earned an automatic-qualifying berth), plus the next best two.
His speedier 8:41.18 in last Wednesday's preliminaries was actually the discipline's fourth-fastest out of 24 entrants. His preliminary time trailed the 8:40.52 of eventual National Champion Anthony Rotich by barely six-tenths of a second for top billing heading into the grand finale.
Rotich, a senior at Texas-El Paso, proved to all he had plenty in reserve with a winning 8:33.90. University of Arkansas senior Stanley Kebenei nearly kept up with the Miner's pace, but settled for second with an 8:34.28. Eastern Kentucky senior Ole Hesselbjerg (8:36.09), Oklahoma junior Brandon Doughty (8:38.35) and Weber State University senior Mike Hardy (8:42.30) rounded out the top five.
With a contingent counting Flint and six others, BYU posted 14 points to match Baylor University in the final team standings, headed by the meet-hosting, #2-ranked Oregon.
The Ducks piled up 85 points-three down from their record-setting 2014 total-while top-ranked Florida (56), Arkansas (53), Louisiana State (45) and Southern California (40.5) followed in the season's ultimate order.
SIZZLE IN THE 'HEAT': Flint's effort in the steeplechase prelims bettered his previous BYU-best 8:46.19, achieved in the 2013 NCAA Div. I West Regional heats, and stands as the school's ninth-fastest time ever.
His work in the final at Oregon's 96-year-old facility (its first track surface was added 94 years ago) earned him Second Team All-America distinction for 2015.
