Tulane Cross Country Sweeps American Weekly Honors, Remain in National Rankings
Tulane’s cross country teams swept the weekly cross country honors by the American Conference as Bernard Cheruiyot was named the Men’s Athlete of the Week and Blezzin Kimutai took home the Women’s Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon. It was the third time this season for Cheruiyot and first time for Kimutai.
National Rankings for Tulane Harriers
Add to that, this is the third consecutive week both of Tulane’s cross country teams have earned national recognition, appearing in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national rankings. The men’s team comes in at No. 19 in the poll released October 21, steadily climbing the national ranks since debuting at No. 23 on September 16, reaching a season-high of No. 17 on October 7 and holding steady in the top 20.
Regionally, the men continue to dominate the South Central Region, maintaining the No. 1 spot for the fourth consecutive week, a strong rise from their preseason No. 2 position.
On the women’s side, Tulane maintained a presence in the national rankings at No. 29. The team reached as high as No. 25 on October 7 and held the No. 30 position on September 30. Like the men, the women’s team has also been a force regionally, holding the top regional ranking in the South Central Region for the third straight week, up from a preseason and early-season No. 2.
Cheruiyot Honored Again
Cheruiyot placed third among all 230 runners at the prestigious and ultra-competitive 8K Championship race at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday with a 23:10.4. He now has finished in the top three in each of his first three races of the season. He aided the Tulane men to a 12th place finish of 32 teams with 329 points. Tulane beat six fellow ranked teams in the competition including No. 1 Iowa State at the race.
Kimutai Earns First Conference Honor
Kimutai was Tulane's highest finisher with a 19:31.7 at the 6K Crimson Classic on Friday. She placed fifth of 183 runners in competition at the race. She aided the program place second overall of 23 teams at the race. The program finished ahead of Alabama, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Miami and only trailed South Carolina in the race.
2025 American Cross Country Athlete of the Week
Sept. 2 – Bernard Cheruiyot – Men’s
Sept. 2 – Dorcas Naibei – Women’s
Sept. 30 – Bernard Cheruiyot – Men’s
Oct. 21 – Bernard Cheruiyot - Men’s
Oct. 21 – Blezzin Kimutai – Women’s
Women’sTulane’s cross country teams now set their sights on the American Conference Championship on November 1, hosted by the University of Charlotte at Frank Liske Park in Concord, North Carolina..
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.