Tulane Green Wave Women’s Indoor Track and Field Makes Program History

The Tulane Green Wave women’s track and field team did something no other team in program history had done during this weekend’s conference indoor meet.

Feb 8, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Devlin Fieldhouse logo at midcourt before the game between Houston Cougars and Tulane Green Wave at Devlin Fieldhouse. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

For the first time since joining the American Athletic Conference, the Tulane Green Wave women’s track and field team have won the conference’s indoor championship.

The Green Wave clinched the title on Saturday in Birmingham, as they ended the day with 96 points as a team. UTSA was on their heels but couldn’t overcome the Green Wave, as the Roadrunners ended up with 92.5 points.

None of Tulane’s athletes won a most valuable performer or rookie award, but the overall success of the entire team led to the victory. In fact, Tulane’s dominance in four distance events — where they claimed eight of the 12 podium places available — fueled the team’s victory.

Most notable for the Green Wave was the performance in the mile. Dorcas Naibei won the event with a time of 4:42.88. But her teammates took second and third place, allowing Tulane to rack up more points. Danna Diaz (4:43.20) and Reese Ragland (4:48.46) ran second and third place to dominate the podium in that event.

Tulane also ran 1-2 in the 800 meters. Tharushi Karunarathna posted a personal best of 2:06.99, which is now among the Top 10 times in Tulane history. Janae Dean came in second with a time of 2:07.39.

Naibei and Diaz dominated in the 3,000 meters as they placed second and third, respectively. Their times of 9:28.85 and 9:29.95 allowed the Green Wave to rack up more points.

In the 5,000 meters, Blezzin Kimutai and Paula Vaquera finished in second and third place, respectively, with times of 16:27.59 and 16:29.60.

In other events, Egbe Ndip-Agbor was fourth in the 200 meters and ran a personal best of 23.87. She broke her personal best of 23.89, which she ran in qualifying.

In the field, Leah Kennedy claimed a pair of Top 10 finishes. She placed seventh in both the shot put and weight throw (17.22m), earning a personal best in the shot put (14.24m).

For winning the title, Tulane’s coaches were named the 2025 Staff of the Year, including Adrian Myers, David Silversmith, Agne Eggerth, and Matthew Boone. The same staff led the men’s cross-country team to a title in the fall and earned Staff of the Year honors for that accomplishment as well.