Men's 4-Mile Collegiate Results

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Senior Pat Liederbach (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey) took runner-up honors as UDM hosted the 24th Annual Running Fit-Detroit Titan Invitational on Saturday at Cass Benton Park in Northville.

Overall, a pair of Titans finished in the top 11 and five Detroit harriers were in the top 20 helping the red, white and blue take third with 56 points, trailing only Wayne State (48) and Eastern Michigan (41).

“A great day with some good times in a track like tactical race as everyone was cautious with the hilly first mile,” said head coach Guy Murray. “It really bodes well for us to put five guys into our all-time top 10 on the Cass Benton course.”

Liederbach and senior Alex Harris (Huntington Woods, MI/Shrine) were neck-and-neck through the first half of the 4-mile race before Liederbach and EMU's James Hughes came down the stretch, with the Eagle outlasting the Titan by six seconds. The runner-up finish by Liederbach was the second of his career as he took second at Bowling Green back in 2008. His 20:31 effort on the day was also his Cass Benton PR as well as the second best Titan effort on the home Invitational course.

Harris claimed 11th in 21:04, the sixth-best tally at Cass Benton in school history, while senior Ryan Ayala (Coopersville, MI/Coopersville) earned 15th in 21:09 and the seventh best time by a Titan.

“Pat ran a good race and is ready for a big senior season along with Alex and Ryan,” added Murray.

Sophomore Edwin Gay (Grosse Pointe, MI/GP South) posted a 19th-place effort and the ninth best Titan run in the courses' history with a time of 21:18, with freshman Martin Nelkie (West Branch, MI/Ogemaw Heights) right behind him for 20th place at 21:22, a top five mark for a rookie at Cass Benton.

The event began with the running of two open races featuring high school and junior high teams along with open competitors. A special 1.5 mile middle school race was added this year and the annual Tommy Titan Future Legends Kid's Race was as big as it has ever been. The latter race featured kids nine and under in attendance to get in on the action racing Tommy Titan up the final hill of the course.

Detroit will return to the course next Friday as the Titans head to Sound Bend, IN, for the prestigious National Catholic Championships.