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For the past few months, the UDM men's cross country team has worked hard in meets, put in the necessary miles in the summer and persevered through some lingering injuries for the chance to win a Horizon League title in front of its hometown fans. 

All that hard work will be on display this Saturday as the Titans host the 2009 Horizon League Cross Country Championships in Kensington Metropark in Milford. The event is free to everyone attending, but there is a $4 charge to enter the park. Students wishing to attend the event can hop aboard a fan bus that will leave Calihan Hall at 9 a.m., with pizza provided at the end of the event. 

The men's 8k race is set to start at 11a.m., with the women's 5k to follow at noon. There will be two Tommy titan kid's race's at 12:45 p.m., and the awards ceremony to wrap up the event will take place at 1 p.m. 

“We are excited to host the championship at Kensington,” said head coach Guy Murray. “It is a great course. We will miss Cass-Benton, but Kensington is a bit fairer for a championship.” 

“Kensington is a challenging course, but runs fast. The hill coming up from the lake can really change the race. The men run it in the four mile and then come down hill for the lightning fast last mile, so you have to be careful not to burn yourself out.” 

The Titans, who have battled injuries all season long, will hope to have their full scoring squad for just the third time all season. 

“Things have not gone as planned this year, but we think we are finally ready for the championship,” said Murray. “Our last race at Bowling Green was just are second at full strength and we ran well with a nice pack. If we are going to move up from fifth last year, we need to have Pat (Liederbach) in the top 10 and our two thru five pack stick together and narrow the gap a bit and need to get a couple other guys in the top 20.” 

Two-time All-Horizon League selection Pat Liederbach (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey) will again be counted on to be the Titans' front runner despite only racing twice this year. Liederbach placed seventh as a freshman earning All-League first team honors and eighth last season garnering a second team accolade. 

“Pat has done a great job in his first two HL races and we need him in the thick of things this year,” noted Murray. 

Senior Alex Gould (Comstock Park, MI/Comstock Park), who has been the team's best runner since the start of the year, will also be an important factor for UDM. Gould has been impressive in his final season in cross country, evolving from a four or five man runner to the squad's top finisher in two races this season. 

“Alex has had an incredible break through year and is a real key to our success,” Murray said. “He is racing with great confidence and his strength will show in the last mile. He is a strong threat to break into the top 20.” 

Sophomore Alex Vanias (Leroy, MI/Pine River), who finished 22nd at last year's league meet, has overcome an injury in the summer to shake off the stigma of the sophomore jinx and has placed first for Detroit in two races and in the top three on the team in all four events he has competed in. 

Detroit will also look for a solid effort out of junior Kevin Smalley (Gladwin, MI/Gladwin), who recently won the Titans' time trial at Palmer Park with new PR, while juniors Alex Harris (Huntington Woods, MI/Shrine) and Ryan Ayala (Coopersville, MI/Coopersville) will have the benefit of experience in this type of race. 

Detroit has never won the men's championship, but has earned three runner-up finishes in 1980, 1985, and '86. The latter two teams were led by Titan head coach Guy Murray. 

Chris McPhee holds the school record of 25:37 at Kensington running at the Michigan Intercollegiate in 2001, while Nick Cordes of Ashland holds the all time record at 24:15, set in 2002. 

All the Horizon League teams will be looking to unseat Butler from atop the standings. The Bulldogs have won the championship 11-straight times, with just a share of first with Loyola in 2001 as their only blemish. 

“Butler will once again be a major force, while Loyola has either been one or two in the league for a very long time and always runs great at the HL,” said Murray. Milwaukee and UIC both got by us last year and have run well this year. They both are running in tight packs so it will be very, very close, while Youngstown State has the talent and always has a great day at the championships.” 

A quick look at the top competition is listed below.

Butler
--Comes into the race ranked 33rds nationally and second in the region.
--Scored a perfect 15 the past two years.
--Return two-time champion Andy Baker and 7-of-8 All-HL runners from a year ago.

Loyola
--return three All-League runners.
--Ben Reifenberg was seventh in '08 and sixth in '07.
--Ryan Kuphall took sixth in '08 and 12th in '07.
--Josh Stein was 14th as a freshman last season.

Milwaukee
--Dan Uphoff is top returnee after taking 17th last year.
--Rookie John Simmons has led them in their last three races.

UIC
--Sam Kehoe is top runner placing 16th last year.
--Matt Morse was HL runner-up in 10k in track after not running cross country.

Youngstown State
--Jake Lape earned 20th last season as team's top runner.
--Kiplangat Tisa was the HL champion in 5k in both indoor and outdoor.