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The University of Detroit Mercy women's cross country team will look for its third Horizon League championship as the Titans will have the benefit of its fans and alumni cheering them on when they host this year's league meet at Kensington Metropark in Milford on Halloween.

The event is free to everyone attending, but there is a $4 charge to enter in the park. Students wishing to attend the event can hop aboard a fan bus that will leave Calihan Hall at 9 a.m., with free pizza provided at the end of the event.

The men's 8k race is set to start at 11 a.m., with the women's 5k to follow at noon. There will be two Tommy Titan kids races 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 more fair for a championship.

“Kensington is a challenging course, but runs fast. The hill coming up from the lake can really change the race. The women run it in the third mile and I have seen some races change dramatically when a runner doesn't recover from the hill and can't bring it home in the last 500m.”

The Titan women have greatly improved from last year and will now put it all on the line for a chance at the championship.

“We hope to challenge for a top 5 spot after failing to do that last year,” said Murray. “We were sixth in '07 on a great day where we got some luck so we need to keep improving and run a good race.”

The women's team has remained pretty healthy throughout the season and has been led by senior Beata Gorzynska (Ilawa, Poland/Mazurski of Olsztynie) and freshman Alexandria Vintevoghel (Casco, MI/Marine City).

Gorzynska has turned in a fantastic senior season, finishing first on the squad in four of five races, including breaking her personal 5k record twice. Vintevoghel has earned the top spot on two occasions and twice in the other four UDM races.

“Beata has really put it together in her senior season and we need another great effort from her,” said Murray. “Alexandria has done exactly what we hoped for and has adjusted well and is getting better and better each week. She ran well in these situations in high school and I expect that to continue.”

Junior Kristie Ferrans (Carleton, MI/Monroe) has been solid, finishing in the top four in every race, including twice as the second Titan in. Sophomore Stephanie Rossman (Caledonia, MI/Caledonia) has been right there too, finishing among the team's top four in every race, while senior Jennifer DeFauw (Harper Woods, MI/Grosse Pointe North) and freshman Katrina Oberski (Clyde, MI/Port Huron) have both scored as the Titans' No. 5 runners throughout the season.

“We are looking forward to this race and testing our much-improved team,” Murray said. “We have a great pack and just need to move up closer to the front. We lack the front runner that most of the teams have so we need to group up and run a team race.

UDM took home the league championship in 1986 and '87 and finished in a tie for second in 1997. Three red, white and blue harriers have also won the race with Titan Hall-of-Famer Bonnie (Fitzpatrick) Wood finishing first in 1987, Angie Lefere in 1997 and Kim Hemstreet in 2002.

The Kensington course has served as host for a multitude of 5k college and high school races, with the course record set by Megan Goethals of Rochester HS at 17:40 at this year's Oakland County championships. The run gave her the distinction of the only person to ever break 18 on the course.

Butler has traditionally been the top team in the league with 10 championships, but finished third last year behind Loyola and Milwaukee. Below is a quick look at this year's top HL competition.

Butler
-- Had an amazing recruiting year and is all new and ranked in the top 10 regionally.
-- Rookie Katie Clark is their top runner.

Loyola
-- Defending champion who now has five league titles.
-- Return 3 All- HL runners.
-- Pam Staton was eighth last season, while Jessie Morgenthal was 12.
-- Jen Rock from Utica Eisenhower was the top runner at Pre-Nationals.

Milwaukee-
-- Return two All-Horizon League runners
-- Abbie Zaspel placed fifth last year and has led team in every race this season
-- Tanaiya Fisher earned ninth last season.

UIC
-- Kristen Heckert is back after taking11th last year.

YSU
-- Top runner Lauren Blase was15th in 2008

Green Bay
-- Two top runners are Jolene Sell (13th) and Josey Bellin (14th) at last year's meet.

Wright State
-- Returns 2008 20th-place performer Natalie Hopwood.