Men’s Cross-country earns bid to NCAA Championships
On Monday, the Wayne State men’s cross-country team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships on Nov.20 in Saint Leo, Florida.
The team is coming off two strong races, posting a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Evansville, Indiana last weekend, which followed a third-place finish at the GLIAC Championships a few weeks ago. The result was WSU’s best finish at the conference championships since 2011.
Wayne State cross-country head coach Grant Lofdahl told WSUAthletics.com that he was pleased to see the men’s team earn a bid to Nationals.
“Our men have been through an awful lot in the past two years, and I’m extremely grateful that they qualified for Nationals,” Lofdahl said.
Redshirt sophomore Ransom Allen has been one of the team’s strongest performers throughout the season and has posted strong times in the last two races. At the GLIAC Championship, he finished fifth overall with a time of 25:11.4 to become the team’s first runner to garner All-GLIAC First Team honors since 2012.
He followed that up by posting a 30:23.1 time at regionals, good for a seventh-place finish, which also earned him All-Region recognition from the United States Track and Field& Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA).
Lofdahl said the team’s opportunity to compete at the NCAA Championships is a testament to the team’s ability to endure obstacles throughout the season.
“This year has been chock full of ups and downs, with more illnesses and injuries than any season I can remember,” he said. “But these guys just have a ‘next man up’ mentality and they trusted the process. We’re very excited to see them compete against the very best next Saturday.”
This will be the program’s 16th appearance at the NCAA Championships, and the team’s first since 2008.
Basketball Arena opens with exhibition versus Michigan
The Wayne State Fieldhouse opened to much fanfare last Friday as the Wayne State men’s basketball team hosted the University of Michigan in an exhibition contest. As expected, the evening was more of a showcase for the new home of the basketball teams—as well as the Motor City Cruise—rather than expecting the Warriors to upset the nationally-ranked Wolverines.
Despite the chilly temperatures outside, a block party took place in the plaza area before the game outside the arena, named for school president M. Roy Wilson. During the contest, fans were treated to a halftime performance by Spyder Turner.
Despite the victory by UM, the fans seemed excited to experience the new arena, and the contest served its purpose for both teams. For Michigan, it was their first game in front of fans in a long time, while according to Wayne State men’s basketball head coach David Greer, the game helped them prepare for their season opener against Ashland University.
“I know they’re getting ready for their season opener, so I hope they got something out of it,” Greer told WSUAthletics.com. “I know we did because Ashland runs a similar style offense, so we’ll be faced with the same thing next Friday.”
Football alum shouts out current RB after setting new rushing record
Former Wayne State standout and Detroit Lion Joique Bell recorded a video last week, that recognized redshirt freshman running Myren Harris for breaking the school’s record for rushing yards in a game.
In the 1:06 video, posted to the Twitter page for the show Bell hosts with former Red Wings enforcer Darren McCarty and local broadcaster Neal Ruhl on Woodward Sports Network, he recalled Harris saying he wanted to pass the mark.
“We spoke a few times and he actually told me he wanted to break the record,” Bell said. “I said ‘hey records are there to be broken.’ He went out there and had a great game.”
Bell continued by tying together a connection between notable performances both backs had against the Northwood Timberwolves.
“The irony of it all is the team that he set the record on is the team I played in my last home game against in Northwood, Michigan (the university is located in Midland). And when I played them my last game, I ran for 314 (yards) on them (and) he came out and ran for 327 and broke the record.”
Harris went on to show gratitude to Bell on social media after finding out about the video.
Unfortunately for Harris, during his record-setting night against NU, he suffered an injury that kept him out of Saturday’s home finale versus Grand Valley State University, as well as this week’s contest with Ferris State.
Current Detroit LIon who played at WSU featured in video series
Former Wayne State linebacker Anthony Pittman was the first Detroit Lions player featured in a video series that goes beyond the field with the team’s players.
In the 13:42 video on the team’s YouTube channel, Pittman talks about growing up in Detroit, meeting his fiance as a freshman at WSU, and why he finds it impactful to be active in the community. Also featured in the video is his love of fishing, which is punctuated early in the film as he captures a small-mouth fish.
As for why he’s stayed with the Lions on their practice squad for a few seasons before becoming the first WSU defensive player since 1994 to make the 53-man roster, he attributed it to the connection to the city.
“Detroit is pretty much home base to me,” he said (to we’re almost 100% certain Lions digital reporter Dannie Rogers). “I’ve had opportunities to go with different teams. I could have went with the Saints as a rookie. I could have gone to the Raiders last year, but it’s just home, man. It just feels like home.”
Pittman expressed amazement at his current situation, where he gets to do something not many people get to experience.
“Playing for the city I grew up in and the city that I went to college in, watching (the) Detroit Lions play throughout the years, I’m just proud to be on the team,” he said. “I look at the crowd and it just feels like home, so I’m so grateful.”
The full video can be found here.
Across The Lodge 