Two Earn All-American Honors at NAIA Championships

Doane Cross Country competed at the NAIA National Championships on Friday in Vancouver, Washington. The Tiger men competed after earning an at-large berth while Calla Wittland represented the women after earning an individual berth.

The women's race started the day and Wittland, a sophomore from Bennington, finished with a time of 23:59.2. She placed 141st out of 331 runners who finished the race. This was the first NAIA National Championship meet for Wittland.

The men's team had a historic day as two runners finished in the Top 40, earning NAIA All-American honors. This marks the first time in program history that the team has had multiple NAIA Cross Country All-American honors in the same season and the first All-Americans since Sufian Kimo in 2009. Emmanuel Yego placed 22nd with a time of 25:22.1 while Nelson Ruto was 35th with a time of 25:34.9.

Michael Grigsby was next to cross the finish line for the Tigers with a time of 26:38.3 to place 156th. Thomas Oliver placed 176th with a time of 26:52.1. Duncan Blankenship rounded out the Top 5 who accounted for the team score as he placed 201st with a time of 27:04.1. In the final 1000 meters, Oliver passed up six runners, Grigsby passed seven runners, and Blankenship passed 21 runners as Doane edged out Goshen (Ind.) by 12 points for the Top 15 finish. The Tigers posted 458 points in the team score.

Also running for the Tigers was Gavin Skorupa who placed 267th with a time of 27:48.5 and Jakob Tadlock who finished with a time of 27:55.8 to place 270th.

Doane's 15th place finish is the best for the team since 2004 when the Tigers placed 10th overall. It also marked just the sixth time the program has posted a Top 15 finish.