DETROIT (9/29/2026) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's cross country teams will make the trek Derby City as the Titans run in the 25th Annual Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic.
The day will feature several races, with the men running the 8k Gold Race at 9:00 a.m. and the women taking part in the 6k Blue Race at 11:00 a.m. at E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.
Through two races, the men's scoring five has been the same, with graduate senior
Joshua Otten leading the way, winning the Tommy Titan vs. W the Warrior Cross Country Classic and placing 13th at Notre Dame's National Catholic Invitational w. ith a 24:18. Sophomore
Colin Murray was runner-up in the season opener and 14th at Notre Dame in 24:18, while junior
Christopher Russelburg earned fourth at Cass-Benton Park and clocked a career-low 24:53 for 23rd at Notre Dame.
On the women's side, the upperclass duo of senior
Alaina Burns and junior
Kirsten Koss have led the Titans in the first two races. Burns was fourth in the season opener and set a 5k career-best 18:32 for 26th at the National Catholic Invitational, while Koss was sixth at home and posted a PR of 19:33 for 27th at Notre Dame. Freshman
Anna Kujansuu has been the third runner in both races, while the fourth has been split between junior
Sofia Figueroa and senior
Helana Napiorkowski.
UDM has run in 18 of the 25 races at Louisville in its history.
Last season, Murray led the Titans with a 24:40 for 42nd, helping the team finish 17th.
The men's best finish was fourth in the Blue Race in 2015 and 2019, while the best individual finish was Ben Kendell's and Patrick Liederbach's fourth-place efforts in 2015 and 2010, respectively. Kendell also holds the best time for a Titan at Louisville, clocking a 23:54 for fifth in 2018.
For the women,
Nina Pizzo led the team last season with a 22:00 6k to finish 11th, as the squad placed 12th overall.
The best team finish was fourth in the 5k Blue Race in 2007, while
Allison Sherman won gold with an 18:09 run in the Silver Race in 2022.
