Kansas City, MO – The University of the Cumberlands men's cross country team remained atop the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25, the national office announced Thursday. The Patriots collected 19 first-place votes and 560 points to hold the No. 1 spot in the third regular-season rating of the 2026 season.

The Patriots most recently competed at the Great Louisville Classic, where they placed fourth out of 24 teams in the Men's Gold 8K with 160 points. UC finished as the top NAIA program in the field and just one point behind third-place North Central.

James Ndayishimiye led the Patriots in Louisville, placing 16th overall out of 251 runners with a time of 24:17.3. Collin De Julio followed closely behind in 17th, while Killian Le Bourhis, Ryan Ehrler, and Noah Loeser rounded out the scoring five for Cumberlands.

Ndayishimiye's performance earned him his second Mid-South Conference Runner of the Week honor of the season. The Patriots have now collected three MSC weekly honors this season, with De Julio also earning the award following his season-opening victory at the Wildcat Twilight Invitational.

Southern Oregon sits second in the latest poll with 542 points, followed by College of Idaho in third, The Master's (Calif.) in fourth, and Madonna (Mich.) rounding out the top five.

The Patriots return to competition on Friday, October 23, at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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