HBCU Athletic Conference announces 2025 Women's Cross Country Preseason All-HBCUAC Teams, Rankings

NEW ORLEANS - September 1, 2025 - The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) starts the 2025 women's cross country season with the release of its 2025 Preseason All-HBCUAC Team and Rankings.

The team and rankings were determined by performances at the 2024 HBCUAC Championship. The top 10 returning runners made up the Preseason All-HBCUAC team. Philander Smith University's Ja'Neisha Collins is looking to three-peat as individual champion. She finished last season's six-kilometer race in 26:04, besting the runner-up by 41 seconds. She claimed four HBCUAC Runner of the Week awards. The rest of the team is below:

Jewel Cross, Talladega: Finished runner-up at the 2024 HBCUAC Championship; qualified for the 2024 NAIA National Championship

Herlancia Miller, Tougaloo: Finished fifth at last season's championship; helped Tougaloo to a runner-up finish

Kennedy Timmons, Dillard: Finished eighth at the 2024 HBCUAC Championship, one of the only returning runners from the Lady Bleu Devils' four-peat.

Lauren Warr, Rust College: Earned All-HBCUAC with a ninth-place finish

Ariel Johnson, Philander Smith: Earned All-HBCUAC; ran 28:52.2 at last season's championship

Tanisha Boyd, Tougaloo: Finished 13th at last season's championship; helped Tougaloo to a runner-up finish

Remi Pierre, Wiley: Ran the Lady Wildcats' fastest time at the 2024 HBCUAC Championship at 31:13

Lamoy Duffus, Talladega: Ran 31:24 at last season's championship; helped the Tornadoes to a third-place finish

Ja'Katelyn Thomas, Wiley: Earned HBCUAC Runner of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 6.

Dillard University is the four-time defending champion but most of it's top runners from last season graduated. Tougaloo College, who was a distant runner-up and Talladega College, which finished third may contend for the 2025 title. The full rankings are below:

1. Dillard University

2. Tougaloo College

3. Talladega College

4. Wiley University

5. Philander Smith University

6. Rust College

7. Stillman College

8. Fisk University

9. Voorhees University

10. Wilberforce University

11. University of the Virgin Islands

12. Huston-Tillotson University

Fans can catch the 2025 action on hbcuac.org. The season will culminate in the 2025 HBCUAC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships hosted by Decatur Morgan County Tourism on October 17 at Oakville Indian Mounds Park in Danville, Ala.

About the HBCU Athletic Conference
The HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) is the only HBCU conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The HBCUAC membership includes Dillard University (LA), Fisk University (TN), Huston-Tillotson University (TX), Oakwood University (AL), Paul Quinn College (TX), Philander Smith University (AR), Rust College (MS), Southern University at New Orleans (LA), Stillman College (AL), Talladega College (AL), Tougaloo College (MS), University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Voorhees University (SC), Wilberforce University (OH), and Wiley University (TX). HBCUAC sponsors championships in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's track and field, women's volleyball, softball, and baseball. In 2022, the HBCUAC secured the largest media rights deal in conference and NAIA history, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Urban Edge Network. On July 1, 2024, the conference rebranded from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) to the HBCU Athletic Conference, marking a new era for the conference that embodies the makeup of its membership. For more information, visit hbcuac.org.