On Nov. 12, the NAIA announced their national qualifiers for the 2024 NAIA Nationals Championship in Columbia, Missouri on Nov. 22. The Tigers had 10 runners qualify: freshmen Porter Bickley and Jayden Wall, juniors Danie Parriott, Calla Wittland, Micheal Grigsby, Emmanuel Yego, Nelson Ruto, Luke Bonfias and seniors Jakob Tadlock and Thomas Oliver.
Parriott and Wittland ran individually in the Women’s race while Bickley, Wall, Grigsby, Yego, Ruto, Bonfias, and Oliver were running as a team in the Men’s Race.
Starting off in the Women’s race, Wittland placed 179th having a time of 23:25.5, while Parriott had a time of 23:50.8, which placed her 217th.
Transitioning over to the Men’s race, crossing the finish line first for the Tigers was Oliver who had a time of 24:53.1 which placed him 55th. Placing 92nd with a time of 25:07.4 was Bickley with Yego following after with a time of 25:14.1 placing 108th. Having a time of 25:35.3 placing him 168th was Ruto with Grigsby having a time of 25:55.8 placing him 211th. Bonfias finished with a time of 26:10.1 which placed him 234, finishing up for the Tigers was Wall who placed 243 with a time of 26:15.9. This is the fastest team time the Tigers have run this season, with a total time of 2:06:45 and the Tigers placed 20th overall and finished as the best performing school in the GPAC, beating the GPAC conference champions Dordt University for the first time in five years.
This marks the conclusion of the Tiger’s Cross Country 2024 season. However, Doane will send two runners, Tadlock and senior Jeremiah Arndt, to Sacramento, California, on Dec. 7 for the California International Marathon. The rest of the Cross Country team aims to rejoin Doane Track and Field and compete in the 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons.
