Tulane Women’s Indoor Track and Field Selected as American Preseason Favorite
The American Conference announced Thursday the results of the preseason balloting as conducted by the league’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field coaches. Tulane’s women’s team was voted as the preseason favorite after winning the conference championship last season. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own programs.
The Green Wave earned eight first-place votes to accrue 135 total voting points. South Florida was picked second in the 13-team league with three first-place votes and 120 total points. Charlotte had one first-place vote and 118 points to slot third. UTSA (108) and Rice (103) round out the top five. The final first-place vote was for East Carolina, who slotted sixth with 92 points.
Last season’s conference title was the first in program history. The Wave is highlighted by multiple returning podium winners, including Dorcas Naibei who won the mile last season. Two-thirds of Tulane’s podium sweep on the mile returns as alongside Naibei, the roster again features third-place finisher Reese Ragland. Naibei was also second in the 3,000 meters. Blezzin Kimutai and Paula Vaquera were second and third, respectively, in the 5,000 meters. With the conference title plus numerous individual accomplishments, the Tulane coaching staff earned the 2025 American Staff of the Year award.
The indoor track and field season begins Friday with the Birmingham Icebreaker. The 2026 American Conference Indoor Championship will be held in Birmingham as well on February 27 and 28. The NCAA Championship will be conducted March 13 and 14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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.