Tulane Men’s Cross Country Team Clinches Historic NCAA South Central Regional Title; Women’s Squad Finishes Third
The Tulane men's cross country team made history Friday morning at Argi Park, capturing the NCAA South Central Regional Championship for the first time in school history. The impressive performance secures an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA Cross Country National Championships. The women's team also delivered a strong showing, finishing third overall and positioning themselves for a potential at-large berth.
Men’s Team Dominates in 10K Race
In an outstanding display of depth and determination, Tulane’s men’s squad dominated the 10K race, with all seven runners finishing in the top 25 to earn All-Regional honors and contribute to a team score of 44 points. The Green Wave’s average time was 29:41.40, outrunning regional powerhouses Arkansas, Texas A&M, and Texas. This is the first time since 2005 (excluding the 2020 COVID season) that a school other than those three has earned the team victory in the South Central Regional and the only the second time that school has been neither Texas or Arkansas during that same period of time (2008 – Texas A&M).
Leading the charge was Bernard Cheruiyot, who finished as the runner-up with a time of 28:51.3, earning All-Regional honors. Close behind was Silas Kiptanui, who secured third place in 29:11.2, also earning All-Regional honors. Gilbert Rono finished 11th in 30:01.4, Rogerio Amaral placed 12th with a 30:04.3, and Illia Kunin crossed the line 16th in 30:20.2—all earning All-Regional recognition. Zach Van Houten finished 21st with a time of 30:29.7, and Tommy Rice rounded out the top seven in 24th place with a 30:40.9, completing Tulane’s all-region performances.
Women’s Team Finishes Strong, Eyes at-Large Bid
On the women’s side, Tulane’s 6K race was highlighted by a strong team effort that resulted in a third-place finish with 108 points. The Green Wave secured three All-Region selections, led by Blezzin Kimutai, who finished third overall with a time of 19:53.0. Kimutai’s performance also earned her an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Dorcas Naibei finished 17th in 20:42.1, and Petra Dos Santos placed 21st in 20:55.4—both earning All-Region honors. Haley Harper narrowly missed the top-25 cutoff, finishing 26th in 21:12.2. Additional Tulane finishers included Alex Sharp (41st, 21:42.9), Janae Dean (42nd, 21:43.0), and Dana Rojas Vazquez (44th, 21:45.2).
Tulane’s women’s team now awaits the announcement of potential at-large bids, which will be revealed Saturday at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Upcoming Championships
The men’s team and Kimutai will compete at the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships on November 22 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.
Courtesy of 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.