USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
NEW ORLEANS (11/3/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's cross country team just keeps on raising the bar in its accomplishments as the two-time Horizon League Champions have reached another feat with their first-ever regional ranking.
In the latest United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Regional Poll, the Titans are ranked No. 14, the first time in school history that has happened.
Detroit defended its first-ever Horizon League Championship in 2013 by winning in dramatic style in 2014 as UDM held off Milwaukee to win the event by two points (57-59). Detroit trailed Milwaukee, 30-34, with four runners in from both teams, but junior
Austin Wigent was able to seal the victory taking 23rd and senior
George Holman put some icing on the cake finishing 26th, both ahead of the Panthers' No. 5 man – who was 29th – thus giving the red, white and blue its second-straight title.
The Titans had four All-Horizon League runners with a pair of first teamers in senior
Colin Creagh and freshman
Ben Kendell, who finished second and fifth, respectively, and two on the second team in sophomore
Ryan Leahy and junior
Derek Gielarowski, 13th and 14th in the race.
Overall, seven of the nine Titans who ran set new personal 8k records, with Creagh and Kendell the first Detroit teammates to break 25:00 minutes in the same race. Kendall also set a Titan freshman 8k time as he was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year.
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Guy Murray '89 is in his 22nd year at the helm of the program and was named the HL Coach of the Year for the second-straight season. Between cross country and track and field, Coach Murray has now led his teams to 11 total conference championships (4-women's indoor track and field, 2-men's cross country, 2-men's indoor track and field, 2-women's outdoor track and field, 1-men's outdoor track and field), while earning 12 Coach of the Year accolades (5-women's indoor track and field, 2-men's cross country, 2-men's indoor track and field, 2-women's outdoor track and field, 1-men's outdoor track and field).
The Titans' men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action next week, Nov. 14, as Detroit competes in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships, held at the University of Wisconsin.
