Cross Country Teams Conclude Strong Seasons at 2025 NCAA Championships
The Tulane men's and women's cross country programs wrapped up their seasons Saturday, Nov. 22, at the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The Green Wave men finished 21st nationally with a total of 536 points.
Men’s Team Highlights
Leading the Tulane men was Bernard Cheruiyot, who finished 29th overall with a time of 28:59.3 in the 10K. Cheruiyot's top-40 finish earned him All-American honors for the first time in his cross country career, marking a historic achievement as he became the program’s first-ever male All-American in cross country. This is Cheruiyot’s second All-American recognition overall, having previously been honored in last season’s outdoor 10,000-meter race.
Silas Kiptanui also delivered a strong performance, placing 47th overall with a time of 29:11.6. Other notable finishes include Illia Kunin (154th, 29:59.3), Gilberto Rono (206th, 30:32.6), Tommy Rice (214th, 30:36.9), Rogerio Amaral (225th, 30:49.7), and Zach Van Houten (228th, 30:53.5).
This was the second straight year that Tulane qualified their men’s team to compete as the program finished 28th last season.
Women’s Team Highlights
On the women’s side, Blezzin Kimutati finished 108th overall in the 6K race with a time of 19:59.2. Despite being 183rd at the 2K mark, Kimutati steadily advanced throughout the race, ultimately breaking into the top 110 by the finish.
Both teams will now shift their focus to the upcoming indoor season, which begins in December.
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.