Tulane Men’s Cross Country Captures Top 25 Ranking After Championship Sweep

The Tulane Green Wave cross country team recently hosted the American Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday and swept both the men’s and women’s titles, becoming the first program in the American Conference to do so since 2022.

That performance for the men was recognized as they landed back in the USTFCCCA national rankings this week at No. 25 for winning the conference championship at Lake Oaks Park.

They entered the season with a No. 22 ranking in the preseason poll and they landed spots in the top 25 in the first two opening rankings of the year.

They became one of three teams in the conference in men’s cross country to either be ranked or receive votes, with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane landing at No. 30 and the Wichita State Shockers receiving votes.

The Golden Hurricanes were the runner-up in the championship on Halloween morning, tallying 56 points to the Green Wave’s team score of 31. It was a 25-point margin of victory for the Wave.

Silas Kiptanui capped off a clean sweep for Tulane as he won with a time of 23:28.7 – a narrow three-second win over Wichita State’s Elkana Kipruto.

In addition, Blezzin Kimutai claimed the victory for the women’s side of things. It was the third conference title for both programs all-time. All three of the women’s victories have come in the last four seasons, while the men have captured two in the last three seasons.

Tulsa was previously the last team in the conference to sweep both the team titles and all four conference championships with the individual victories for Kimutai and Kiptanui.

All five scorers for the Green Wave placed inside the top 10, and six athletes earned all-conference recognition for their thrilling finish in the conference championship.

It’s yet another impressive campaign under director of cross country/track & field Adrian Myers alongside assistant coach David Silversmith. They captured the American Staff of the Year honor, rightfully so.

It’s yet another ranking for the men, who are also at No. 2 in the coaches rankings for the south central region. The Tulane women slot in third in their respective poll for the region.

Now, the Green Wave will turn their sites to the NCAA South Central Regional, which will take place in College Station, Texas, on Friday, November 13.

They’ll look to continue building momentum ahead of the NCAA National Championships on Saturday. That final meet will be held on Saturday, November 21, in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Wave men will look to defend their title for the south central region champions.