Men's Cross Country Places 20th at Nationals

The Men's Cross Country team competed at the NAIA National Championships on Friday morning in Columbia, Missouri, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The Tigers finished 20th overall in a tight race for a Top 15 spot.

College of Idaho, the team champion of the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic in October, came out on top for the NAIA Championship with 87 points. Doane took fifth in the October race but would top two teams on Friday that finished ahead of them a month ago. Doane's finish in 20th was two spots ahead of Kansas Wesleyan and five spots ahead of GPAC Champion, Dordt.

The Tigers finished with 498 points as 54 points separated the Tigers from a Top 15 mark. Thomas Oliver led Doane with a 55th place finish and a time of 24:53.1. Porter Bickley crossed the finish line in 25:07.4 to place 92nd overall. Emmanuel Yego took 108th with a time of 25:14.1.

Nelson Ruto crossed the finish line in 25:35.3 to place 168th. Michael Grigsby was the fifth Tiger to finish, posting a time of 25:55.8 to place 211th. Luke Bonifas was 234th with a time of 26:10.1 and Jayden Wall took 243rd with a time of 26:15.9.

The Top 20 finish gives the Tigers back-to-back Top 20 national meet finishes for the first time since 1995-1996-1997.