The Nighthawks excelled this morning at the Whitman College Invitational in Walla Walla, WA. Morgan Erler won the women's race, the women's team placed second overall, Brody Kemble placed high against a competitive field, Aaron Heberlein made some big moves, and the athletes made some major improvements overall.

"What an amazing day. We battled and won most of them. We still need to continue to work hard as we are not there yet; the goal was to work hard and compete—and that's what they did," said head coach Danny Bowman. 

On the men's side, sophomore Brody Kemble snagged the fourth spot overall in the 8k race in 24:40.1.

"The race went really well, it was broken up into 2k loops and I feel like I ran a solid race and gave myself a chance to compete well against some good competition.

"We've had some really good workouts the last couple of weeks from Coach Mitchell, which prepared us as a team. The team ran really well today, the girls were just out of first place, and the guys went out there and competed very well," added Kemble.

"Really good things are in the future for this season and for the next few years. I'd like to shout out Aaron because he's running really well right now, and also Morgan because she crushed that race!" said Kemble.

Rounding out the scoring five for the men are Ian Stockett (25:30.8), Aaron Heberlein (26:18.0), Quincy Ellis (26:20.2), and Carter Stedman (26:34.7). 

Aaron Heberlein had a breakout race in Walla Walla today, continuously making massive improvements from his times last season. 

"I think I really owe this race to all the miles I put in over the summer," said Heberlein.

"I was able to go out strong and stay at a consistent pace throughout the race. The 8k really plays to my strengths and I'm looking forward to lowering my time a little more when we race in Alaska in a few weeks.

"This was the first 8k for the freshmen guys, so there's still some kinks to be worked out, but overall I think the team raced hard against some tough competition," added Heberlein.

On the women's side, sophomore Morgan Erler had a fantastic race. She owed her first-place finish to a grateful attitude, NNU community support, great weather, and an even greater team. 

"Leading up to the race, I was making sure to keep my mindset good. I tend to run my best when I go into it with a grateful attitude," began Erler.

"The race itself went pretty well. The weather was near perfect and lots of families came out to cheer, so the support was really humbling and special. 

"I didn't expect the results that came, but it's exciting to see things are moving in the right direction!" explained Erler.

"The team did really well compared to last meet. The girl's team especially seems to be gaining a lot more confidence in their racing abilities and it's really cool seeing their improvements. 

"For the next race, I'm excited to go back to the course. We ran in Logan, UT last year, so it will be cool to see how much we've been able to improve. There will also be some big schools like BYU there and they will be fun to race against," added Erler.

Erler finished the 6k race in 21:45.6. Her teammate, freshman Casey Collum, surprised the field with a fourth-place overall finish in 23:09.3.

"I was really happy with how I ran, especially since it was my first 6k," Collum began. 

"I have been fighting a knee injury this week, so I wasn't feeling too great going in; however, I had a good workout last week, so I felt ready for the race today. 

"We went out very fast and I ended up breaking my 5k personal record during the race with a 19:20," mentioned Collum.

"Coach always says "don't be content," so I just kept saying that over and over to myself. I also knew that we had a chance to win, so I just kept trying to fight to pass one girl at a time. 

"It was an amazing feeling to finish 4th and I am really proud that as a team we got second," Collum added. 

Finishing out the scoring five for the women are Keelin Stewart (23:38.9), Olivia Klein (23:40.9), and Becca Darwood (23:58.9). NNU Women's XC finished second with 41 points—just behind Eastern Washington's 39 points. 

Assistant Coach Mitchell was pleased with the athletes' performances today. 

"It was a really good day overall. The freshmen all got their first taste of the championship distances (8k/6k) and performed really well. 

"It was great to see Brody running fast up front in the men's race and Morgan getting the win in dominating fashion in the women's race. 

"Another highlight was Aaron's breakthrough performance. Nice to see hard work rewarded. We still have a ways to go before the conference championships, but we're moving in the right direction," said Mitchell.

The Nighthawks will be traveling south to Logan, Utah next Friday for the Steve T. Reeder Memorial Invite.