Tulane Men’s Cross Country Has Breakthrough Performance at Conference Meet

The Tulane Green Wave men’s cross-country team not only won a team title but ended one program’s decade-long dominance.

Nov 7, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; The American Athletic Conference logo at Yulman Stadium before the game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Connecticut Huskies. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-Imagn Images / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

The Tulane Green Wave men’s cross-country team needed a tiebreaker to claim the American Athletic Conference’s team title earlier this week in Wichita, Kan.

It was the first AAC title for the Green Wave and it ended a 10-year run of league dominance by Tulsa. 

While the Tulane women didn’t claim a team title, freshman Caroline Jeptanui took home the individual title.

Both Tulane and Tulsa finished with a score of 33 points, based on their individual finishes in the event.

The tiebreaker applied to the top five runners for each team, with the No. 1 finisher for Tulane pitted against the No. 1 finisher for Tulsa through the first five runners.

Tulane’s first four runners completed the race ahead of Tulsa’s first four runners head-to-head, giving the Green Wave the team title.

The Green Wave and the Golden Hurricane dominated the Top 10, as the two programs combined to take eight of the top 10 places.

Tulane was led by the top two finishers in the race. Freshman Bernard Cheruiyot won the event with a time of 23:43.5, while senior Jack Jennings was second with a time of 24:02.3.

Cheruiyot also became the first freshman to win the individual title. 

Tulsa’s Chris McLeod was third with a time of 24.:08.6 and his teammate, Jaden Forester, was fourth with a time of 24:11.7.

Cheruiyot was pitted against McLeod and Jennings was pitted against Forester in the tiebreaker, with Tulane winning both tiebreakers.

Tulane’s Illia Kunin was fifth with a time of 24:17.1, while Tulsa’s Ben Brown was sixth with a time of 24:20.7. Kunin won that tiebreaker.

Tulane’s Wondu Summa was seventh with a time of 24:28.1, while Tulsa’s Charlie Krasnoff was ninth with a time of 24:33.0. Summa took that tiebreaker.

Tulsa’s fifth runner, Shay McEvoy, was No. 11 overall with a time of 24:37.6. Tulane’s fifth runner was Jordan Bendura, who was No. 18 overall, with a time of 24:53.4.

Jeptanui won the women’s individual crown with a time of 20:14.5.

Cheruiyot was named the Freshman of the Year and to the men’s all-conference team, along with Jennings, Kunin and Summa.

Tulane’s head coach Adrian Myers and staff captured the American Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors following the historic win.

Jeptanui was named to the women’s all-conference team, along with teammates Blezzin Kimutai