NEW ORLEANS - After an impressive showing at the Mike Johnson Classic in Monmouth last weekend, Northwest Nazarene men's cross country has jumped all the way up to 17th in the nation in the USTFCCCA DII National Coaches' Poll for Week 3.

The Nighthawks were ranked 22nd to begin this season before slipping to 28th in week one and outside the top 30 in week two. With the meet in Monmouth being the first competition against multiple DII schools of the year, NNU's success caught the notice of the national voters to vault the Nighthawks to their highest ranking in program history. 

NNU is also ranked fourth in the West Region, behind just Chico State (7th nationally), Western Washington (14th), and Cal Poly Pomona (15th). 

The Nighthawks have been on fire to begin the 2025 campaign, with first-place finishes at both the Dr. Thad Scholes XC Classic on Sept. 5 and the NNU Invitational on Sept. 19, followed by a runner-up finish at the Mike Johnson Classic. The only team that finished ahead of NNU was the seventh-ranked Wildcats of Chico State. The trio of Brody Kemble, Grady Mylander, and Ian Stockett have finished first, second, and third, respectively, in all three meets so far. Asher Ingram, Neftali Menendez, and Christian Gump have also factored into team scores this year by finishing either fourth or fifth among the Nighthawks runners at the meets.

NNU competes at the Whitman Open in Walla Walla this Saturday before heading to Illinois the following weekend for a huge test at the Lewis Crossover Invite, which typically has about a dozen top-25 teams competing in the race.