DETROIT (8/30/2023) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's cross country team will start the new year close to home as the Titans battle #27 Michigan on Friday.

The 5k race will start at 5:00 p.m. at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter, Michigan, with the women's race to follow at 5:30.

It is the second straight year that the Titans will begin the season against the Wolverines, who are ranked No. 4 in the Great Lakes region and placed 29th at the NCAA Championships last year. 

The Titans - who were picked 10th in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll - will have 17 members on the squad this year, with 11 returners, including nine upperclassmen.

Graduate senior Oscar Hernandez has the most experience on the team as he has been a part of the varsity seven since he was a freshman. He was third for the Titans last year at the Horizon League meet, earning 65th place in 27:04, and was the second Titan in at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals, taking 167th in 34:02. 

Senior Kyle Foulke has battled some injuries, but was part of the top seven at the HL and NCAA Regional Championships last season, while junior Josiah Burr topped the team at both meets, claiming 32nd in a career-best 26:08 at the league race and 147th in 33:30 at the NCAA regionals. 

Junior Connor Joyce scored for the red, white and blue at the league race and was a top-five team performer at the regionals and junior Kenny Lashaway ran a personal record in the 8k at the Horizon League Championships in his only race of the season.

The junior class has also seen Isaiah Bonner and Andrew Pries with experience running collegiate races as well as juniors Nicholas Fringer and Ashwin Philip and sophomore Joshua Otten, all coming off redshirt seasons.

A seven-member freshman class will also compete for their chance at a spot in the rotation.