BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene cross country made their presence felt at the NCAA West Regional meet on Saturday, with two Nighthawks earning All-Region honors and the men registering their highest finish since 2011.
 
Brody Kemble and Morgan Erler were the All-Region honorees, with Kemble finishing 20^th on the men's side and Erler 21^st on the women's side.
 
The men placed seventh out of 22 competing teams at the meet, registering 223 points to finish just four in front of Central Washington's 227. The seventh-place result is NNU's best on the men's side since placing fifth in 2011.
 
Kemble earned his 20^th-place finish with a time of 31:10.2, and is the first Nighthawk on the men's side to place in the top 20 since Tyler Shea also finished 20^th in 2019. Grady Mylander was next for the Nighthawks, finishing 39^th in 31:44.5.
 
Carter Stedman was 49^th in 31:56.3, Asher Ingram 50^th in 32:03.3, and Neftali Menendez 65^th in 32:25.0 to round out the five scorers for NNU.
 
Chico State won the men's regional with 40 points, followed by Western Washington at 54 and Biola at 137 to round out the automatic qualifying teams to the National Championships.
 
On the women's side, NNU was able to top nine other teams to place 19^th out of 28. Erler's 21^st-place finish led the way with her time of 21:38.7. Her finish is the highest of any NNU woman since 2019, when Julia LaMar finished 11^th and Bethany Danner equaled her mark of 21^st.
 
Completing the Nighthawks' five scorers were Paige Trautman (111^th, 23:29.5), Keelin Stewart (114^th, 23:32.6), Mckenna Lechner (123^rd, 23:44.2), and Olivia Blum (126^th, 23:47.2).
 
Three from the eight Division II regions automatically advance, while a complicated formula determines the remaining 10 at-large team berths for nationals (34 total teams). A minimum of 24 additional individuals will be selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process.
 
The selections are set to be announced on Monday, Nov. 11 at 1:00 p.m. Mountain time. If Kemble, Erler, or the men's team can qualify, they will head to the NCAA Division II National Championships on November 23^rd at Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, California.