Men's Cross Country 10.28.25

Men's Cross Country Preps For Horizon League Championships

Men's Cross Country 10.28.25

Men's Cross Country Preps For Horizon League Championships

DETROIT (10/29/2025) -- Four races are in the books, and now the Titans will set their sight on some hardware as the University of Detroit Mercy men's cross country team heads to the Horizon League Championships at Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 1.

The 8k race will start at 11:00 a.m. at the Mastodon Cross Country Course on the Purdue Fort Wayne campus. The women's 6k will go off right after at Noon.

Tickets to the event are $10, and Horizon League students can get in free with a valid student ID.

The men posted 173 points last year, finishing seventh, as Joshua Otten led UDM with a time of 24:43 for 11th overall, earning Horizon League Second Team accolades. Ryan Belanger ran the fastest time by a true freshman at the event, clocking 25:48 for 29th, and Christopher Russelburg was right behind in 31st place in 25:55.

Otten has led the Titans in three of the four races this year, including a pair of runner-up performances at the Golden Grizzly Open and the Canisius Alumni Classic. At Notre Dame, he was ninth in a career-low 24:25, the second-best 8k mark in school history, and a time that is currently 11th in the league.

Freshman Colin Murray has been one of the top rookie runners in the league all year long, leading Detroit Mercy at Louisville and finishing second on the team in the other three outings. The three-time HL Freshman of the Week tallied a fifth-place effort at Oakland, sixth at Canisius, and was 13th at Notre Dame with a school rookie record 24:44 for 13th, the fifth-best tally in the school record book and the best mark by a HL true freshman on the season.

Belanger and Russelburg have been in the top four in all four races, with both claiming third and fourth on the squad twice apiece. Belanger recorded his 8k career best of 25:38 for 30th at Notre Dame, and Russelburg ran his career best of 25:19 for 96th at Louisville.

Sophomore Nicholas Yaquinto has been a part of the scoring five all season long, with a best of 25:49 for 164th at Louisville. Senior Nicholas Fringer and junior Kenyon Popiel also had 8k career marks during the season, and sophomore Caleb Wynn had his best 8k run at last year's conference meet.

UDM has won two team championships in back-to-back fashion, taking the crown in 2013 and 2014. The program has posted 26 top-five efforts, with three second-place finishes, to go with its pair of titles.

Detroit Mercy has also produced an All-HL runner in nine of the last 13 seasons, with one individual winner, Ben Kendell '18, taking first in 2018. He was also runner-up in 2015 and 2016, while Colin Creagh '16 earned second in 2014.

Ken Dubois '88 was runner-up in 1987 and earned three All-HL awards. Chris McPhee '01 was a four-time All-League performer from 1997-2001, as was Patrick Liederbach '11 from 2007-2010 and Kendell from 2014-18.

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