DETROIT (7/21/2021) -- Junior Payton Norkey and sophomore Derrick Ball Jr. earned MVP honors as the University of Detroit Mercy cross country and track and field program handed out its yearly team awards. 

The winter season was a combined effort for cross country and track and field due to the abbreviated season with the pandemic. 

The indoor MVP was Ball Jr., who won two regular-season triple jump titles and then claimed third in the event at the Horizon League Championships with a career-best mark of 13.71m. 

The Student-Athlete Award went to junior Daniel Lanfear, who won the high jump at the Mastodon Invitational and was runner-up at the SVSU Tune-Up, scored at the league meet with a fifth-place finish. 

Senior Thomas Mueller was the Coach's Award winner as the upperclassman set a PR in the 5k in cross country with a time of 25:35.0 and also scored in the mile posting fifth in 4:22.04. 

The Rookie of the Year was shared between freshmen Kyle Foulk and Aquari Walker. Foulk competed in cross country and track and field posting a 5k and 3000-meter PR, while Walker scored in the triple jump - a new event for him - taking sixth at the league meet. 

For the outdoor season, Norkey claimed the MVP honor as he scored at the league championships taking fifth in the 110-meter hurdles and was on the fourth-place 4x400-meter relay squad making him the highest Titan scorer at the meet. During the regular season, he won the hurdles once and was runner-up twice.

Sophomore Zachary Zaborney was tabbed the Student-Athlete Award winner. He started the year with PR's in the long and triple jump and added another in the 400-meter hurdles. If

The Coach's Award was given to senior Alan Nava, who came back from missing the indoor season due to an injury to score by taking seventh in the 1500m at the outdoor championships. 

Freshman Avery Duncan captured the Rookie of the Year award. The newcomer placed sixth in the decathlon to score for the Titans. During the competition, he was second in the high jump and third in the long jump and pole vault. 

Senior Joseph Lietzow was honored with the Comeback Award. Having not competed due to injury since 2019, he broke the school's javelin record in the first throw of his return posting a mark of 51.11-meters at the Golden Grizzlies Track and Field Invite. He also scored in the javelin and high jump at the HL Championships. 

Varsity Letters:
4 - Dash Dobar, Thomas Mueller, Alan Nava, Jacob Spiaser
3 - Bonanza Cummings, Charles Hilsenbeck, Daniel Lanfear, Joseph Lietzow, Payton Norkey, Alexander Petlichkoff, Ryan Schwab, John Paul Terzano
2 - Derrick Ball Jr., Dante Bassham, Logan Collins, Oliver Daniel, Jacob Denison, Brian Hamel, Davis Hellonen, Oscar Hernandez, Zachary Kuran, Zachary Zaborney
1 - Gabriel Baumchen, Carvin Coleman, Lucas Cook, Avery Duncan, Evan Eding, Kyle Foulk, Simon Jones, Joe Toole, Aquari Walker