2010 Horizon League Outdoor T&F Championships Complete Results

2010 Horizon League Outdoor T&F Championships Final Team Standings

Junior Earnest Cleary (Detroit, MI/Ferndale) repeated his performance from the league meet last year to once again claim the title of the fastest man in the HL with a victory in the 100 meter dash, and the UDM men earned a fifth-place team finish at the 2010 Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Loyola University and the University of Illinois-Chicago at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL.

The Titans men's squad racked up 75 points over the three days of competition, nearly a 30-point improvement from last year's league meet. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee captured its seventh straight title on the men's side with a team score 174 points, followed by UIC (107) and Youngstown State (96) to round out the top three.

“We had a great meet and a positive end of the year,” said Detroit head coach Guy Murray. “Great performances and some great races.”

Cleary shaved .03 seconds off his championship meet winning time from 2009, clocking a time of 10.82 to break the tape and nab first-team All-HL honors. Senior teammate Deonte Osayande (Detroit, MI/Winans Academy) earned team points for UDM in the 100 meter dash as well, placing sixth in 11.10 seconds.

A photo finish in the 5,000 meter run gave junior Pat Liederbach (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey) a second-place finish and second-team all-Horizon League honors. Liederbach's time of 14:34.96 was just edged out by Butler's Justin Roeder who broke the tape in 14:34.73. Also earning second-team honors, for the second time at this year's league championships, was junior Lesley Hanna (Exuma, Bahamas/Coakley), who placed second in the 400 meter dash with a showing of 47.37 seconds to go along with his runner-up finish in the high jump from Saturday.

Cleary and Osayande teamed up with senior Sam Jones (Detroit, MI/U-D Jesuit) and sophomore Vushaun Landrum (Windsor, ON/Sandwich Secondary) for the 4x100 meter relay, where the foursome ran a time of 41.88 seconds for second place.

Hanna added to a third-place finish in the 200 meter dash to his list of accomplishments over the weekend, coming across in 21.57 seconds, just ahead of Landrum who was fourth in the final in 21.74 seconds. And just for good measure, Hanna served as the anchor of the 4x400 meter relays that included Osayande, sophomore Joe LaRocca (Eastpointe, MI/De LaSalle Collegiate) and junior Matt Mahler (Thorold, ON/Denis Morris Catholic). The squad completed four laps of the track in 3:18.49, good for fourth place.

Freshman Vincent Lefler (Midland, MI/Midland) was fourth across the finish line in both hurdle events Sunday. He equaled his PR of 15.47 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles, and set a new PR of 55.29 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles. His time in the 400 meter hurdles just edged out rookie teammate Anthony Donald (Waterville, OH/Anthony Wayne) who was fifth in 55.49 seconds.

The regular season is in the books, but some members of the UDM track and field squad will continue competing in the hopes of earning a bid to the NCAA preliminary round at the end of May. The Titans' next chances will come on Friday, May 7 at the Oregon Twilight meet in Eugene, OR, or at the Len Paddock Invitational in Ann Arbor, MI, Friday and Saturday, May 7-8.