GVSU Schedule of Events:
Friday
Saturday

DETROIT -- The Detroit men's track and field team will return to action this weekend with two meets on the schedule. A select number of athletes will compete in the GVSU Big Meet held in Allendale, Mich., while others will spend the weekend competing at the Windsor Team Challenge.

The GVSU Big Meet is a two-day event held in the Laker Turf Building. The meet begins at noon on Friday (Feb. 11) and continues the next day at 9:30 a.m. The Titans will look to improve times and marks at the meet as the Horizon League Championships are now in sight (Feb. 26-27).

“We are taking our invite heat athletes and a few distance runners to go for some more big efforts at the big track at Grand Valley,” Head Coach Guy Murray said. “The fields will be conducive for fast running and we seem to have the flu bug behind so we are healthy and ready to go.”

Lesley Hanna (Exuma, Bahamas, Coakley) will stay active at the GVSU Big Meet as the senior is scheduled to compete in three races. Hanna excels in the 400-meter dash, but this year he has also found success in the 200-meter. He will line up for both of those races, and be a part of the 4x400-meter relay team along with teammates Matt Mahler (Thorold, ON, Denis Morris Catholic), Joe Raffin (Valparaiso, IN, Chesterton), and Vushaun Landrum (Windsor, ON, Sandwich Secondary). Landrum will also be competing in the 60-meter sprint and the 200-meter dash.

Hanna comes into the meet on a hot streak winning each of his last three races in the 400-meter dash. “LJ is having a great indoor season,” Murray added. “He is ready to run fast on the big track. He is going to need a good one to keep his win streak alive.”

Detroit will have two runners compete in the 5000-meter run as Erik Westbrook (Fremont, MI, Fremont) and Sam Felton (St. Joseph, MI, St. Joseph) will make the trip to GVSU. Standout distance runner Patrick Liederbach (Petoskey, MI, Petoskey)will also make this trip competing in the mile and the 3000-meter run.

Mahler will compete in the 800-meter run at the Big Meet. “Matt is off to a great start,” Murray explained. “It was a bit of a surprise for him to take the indoor 800m record this early, and I am looking forward to him lowering it on Friday.”

Ryan Ayala (Coopersville, MI, Coopersville) and Alex Harris (Huntington Woods, MI, Shrine) will stay at the GVSU Big Meet on Saturday to compete in the 3000-meter run. Meanwhile, Mahler will make his debut in the 1000-meter run at Windsor the following day. The Windsor Team Challenge includes the Titans, host school Windsor, Guelph, McMaster, Western Ontario, and York.

“The Windsor Team Challenge is a great meet,” Murray said. “It features some of the best teams in Canada, and it also serves as a unique experience being that it is an international competition. Windsor and Western are perennial challengers for the Canadian title, and the meet has a good atmosphere. The events are good for us to aid development in the NCAA events.”

The Titans are currently ranked 16th in the Great Lakes Region with 25.78 points. Hanna ranks 15th in the 200m and ninth in the 400m. He is also a part of the distance medley relay team that ranks 10th and the 4x400-meter relay team that sits in 11th. Liederbach is also listed with a 14th place ranking in the 5000m.

2011 Top Times / Marks
60m: 6.96 – VuShaun Landrum
200m: 21.83 – Lesley Hanna
400m: 48.04 – Lesley Hanna
800m: 1:53.31 – Matt Mahler
Mile: 4:23.36 – Pat Liederbach
3000m: 8:31.99 – Pat Liederbach
5000m: 14:38.84 – Pat Liederbach
60mH: 8.46 – Aviram Campbell
4x400m: 3:18.96 – Raffin, Lefler, Mahler, Hanna
DMR: 10:09.91 – Mahler, Hanna, C. Smalley, Liederbach
High Jump: 6-6 – Lesley Hanna
Pole Vault: 9-0 – Anthony Donald
Long Jump: 6.81m – Ja'Quan Patterson
Triple Jump: 13.64m – Floyd Hoskin
Shot Put: 13.38m – Jeff Sherman
Weight Throw: 15.17m – Eric Lewis