2010 Horizon League Indoor Championships Webpage

2010 Horizon League Declared Lists

2010 Horizon League Indoor Heat Sheets

Event-by-Event Horizon League Championships Preview (PDF)

The entries have all been sent in and the lanes have been assigned. All that's left now for the Titan's men's and women's track and field squads is to run, jump and throw at the 2010 Horizon League indoor track and field championships Saturday and Sunday, hosted by the University of Detroit Mercy at the University of Michigan Indoor Track Building in Ann Arbor.

“We're excited to host and hope to run well in front of an excited crowd,” said UDM head coach Guy Murray.

Competition kicks off with the multi-events at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, and will conclude with the final of the 4x400 meter relay at 3:15 p.m. Sunday.

On the women's side of the action, Murray feels the Titans are in for a very tough challenge.

“We have a young team, and we'll see how they respond to facing a Horizon League that is close to its highest level ever,” he said. “Saturday is going to be very important, because we need to perform at our best to get in position to earn points on Sunday.”

Leading the way will be senior thrower Brittany Horne (Okemos, MI/Okemos), HL champ outdoors in the hammer throw in 2009 and runner-up indoors in the shot put in 2009. Horne currently ranks second in the league this season in both the shot put and the weight throw, at 43 feet, 11.5 inches and 56' 2.5”, respectively. Her best distance in the shot trails that of league leader Jamie Woods from Milwaukee by less than an inch.

“Brittany will be in contention to win both the shot put and weight throw,” Murray said. “She'll be one of our first competitors in action Saturday and can really help the team get off to a great start.”

Detroit sophomore Susan Kalkstein (New Kensington, PA/Burrell) enters the triple jump seeded sixth in the league, and is fresh off a personal best leap of 36' 7.75” on Sunday at the Silverston Invite.

“She continued to show improvement last weekend and hopefully she can pick up where she left off Saturday and keep improving,” said Murray.

On the track, senior Jennifer DeFauw (Harper Woods, MI/Grosse Pointe North) is in good position to reach the finals of the 800 meter run and earn points for the Titans. DeFauw's season best clocking of 2:19.90 in a top-10 performance in the HL this year. In the 5,000 meter run, freshman Alexandria Vintevoghel (Casco, MI/Marine City), who has posted UDM's best time in the 3,000 meter run also (10:35.92), will look to improve on her 18:18.96 and garner points for the Titans.

On the men's side of the competition, Murray sees the Titans as being in a battle for third place behind perennial league power Milwaukee, which has won six consecutive titles on the men's side, and Butler.

“The men have had a good season so far and I think we're in position to some very good things,” noted Murray. 

After taking runner-up honors each of the last two seasons in the 60 meter dash, junior Earnest Cleary (Detroit, MI/Ferndale) was the HL champion outdoors at 100 meters and has his sights set on taking his first 60 meter title. Cleary has posted the fastest time in the event this season, breaking the tape in 6.86 seconds in December, but is seeded behind a pair of freshmen from Youngstown who boast converted 55 meter dash times of 6.82 and 6.85 seconds. Right behind Cleary, with the fourth-best time this season, is sophomore teammate Vushaun Landrum (Windsor, ON/Sandwich Secondary) who ran 6.98 seconds on Jan. 29. 

“It's going to be tough for Earnest and Vushaun,” said Murray. “The field in the 60 meters is very good and there's a lot of guys who are running very close together.” 

Having run his season best in the 200 meters just last weekend, sophomore Landrum is the owner of the third-best time in the league at 22.18 seconds heading into his first HL championship meet. Cleary will also be a contender for the Titans in the 200, seeded sixth with a time of 22.51 seconds this season.
Junior Lesley Hanna (Exuma, Bahamas/Coakley) is the favorite in the 400 meter dash as the only runner in the league to go under 49 seconds this season. Hanna placed third in the 400 indoors and outdoors in 2009 and also notched a fifth-place finish in the indoor 200 meters. 

Senior Alex Gould (Comstock Park, MI/Comstock Park) set a PR of 1:53.71 for 800 meters on Jan. 22, good enough to get seeded fourth, but will face a very tough field that includes Butler's Rob Mullett, the first HL runner to go under 4:00 in the mile. 

“Alex has had a tremendous season, he's fit, and he's ready to run fast and be in the thick of things in the 800,” said Murray. 

A three-time all-league cross country runner, junior Pat Liederbach (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey) will run both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters races, challenging a strong Butler contingent. Liederbach enters the meet fourth on the league list in the 3,000 after clocking 8:22.55 on Feb. 12, and owns the third-best time in the HL for 5,000 at 14:37.12, which he posted on Dec. 4. 

“We've got some potential in the field events, but we're going to be scoring our points on the track,” concluded Murray, referring to not only the individual events but also the 4x400 and distance medley relays, events where the Titans finished third and second, respectively, in 2009. 

“As a coach, all you can really ask for is your athletes to give their best and set PRs and season bests,” Murray said. “And I think we're in good position to accomplish that this weekend.”