19th Ranked Tulane Cross Country Men Set to Compete in NCAA Championships
The Tulane men’s cross country team, along with the women’s team's Blezzin Kimutai, will compete at the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday in Columbia, Missouri, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The women’s race begins at 9:20 a.m., followed by the men’s race at 10:10 a.m. Both races will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
The Tulane men are ranked No. 19 in the nation, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) during the sixth poll of the regular season.
The Green Wave have maintained a consistent national ranking in all seven polls this season—including six regular-season polls and a preseason ranking.
On November 14, Tulane made history at Argi Park by capturing the NCAA South Central Regional Championship for the first time in program history. The men’s team delivered a dominant performance, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The women’s team finished third at the regional meet, narrowly missing out on an at-large bid.
Tulane’s men showcased exceptional depth, with all seven runners finishing in the top 25 and earning All-Regional honors. The team totaled an impressive 44 points, with an average time of 29:41.40, outpacing regional powerhouses such as Arkansas, Texas A&M, and Texas. This victory marks only the second time since 2008 that a team outside Texas or Arkansas has won the South Central Regional.
Standout performers included Bernard Cheruiyot, who finished second in 28:51.3, and Silas Kiptanui, who took third in 29:11.2—both earning All-Regional honors. Other key contributors were Gilbert Rono (11th, 30:01.4), Rogerio Amaral (12th, 30:04.3), Illia Kunin (16th, 30:20.2), Zach Van Houten (21st, 30:29.7), and Tommy Rice (24th, 30:40.9) – All five also earned All-Regional selection. Their collective efforts propelled the Green Wave to a second-place finish in the American Conference, with all seven runners finishing in the top 21, including five All-Conference selections: Cheruiyot (2nd), Kiptanui (4th), Kunin (7th), Rice (13th), and Amaral (15th).
Courtesy Tulane Athletics
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.