ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Northwest Nazarene cross country competed with some of the best that Division II has to offer on Saturday at the Lewis Crossover Meet in Illinois.
 
The NNU men had a great showing, with the 18^th-ranked Nighthawks placing eighth out of 37 teams in the race. All seven teams that finished ahead of NNU are also ranked in the top 21 in the nation. NNU was just four points behind host and 16^th-ranked Lewis in the final tally.
 
On the women's side, NNU was firmly in the middle of the pack amongst the competitive field, finishing 19^th out of 36 teams.
 
Grady Mylander led the efforts for the men, earning an impressive top ten finish as his time of 24:11.56 was eighth among the field of 390 runners.
 
Brody Kemble and Ian Stockett were next for NNU, finishing just a second apart with Kemble 39^th at 24:42.82 and Stockett 41^st at 24:43.72.
 
Asher Ingram placed 101^st with a time of 25:27.22 and Neftali Menendez was 110^th at 25:31.08. Christian Gump and Micah Chi also ran for NNU, finishing 186^th and 200^th, respectively.
 
Hazel Kunkel continued her strong freshman campaign for the NNU women, placing 22^nd overall to lead the Nighthawks with a time of 22:00.15. Morgan Erler was not far behind, finishing 26^th with a time of 22:07.33.
 
Zoey Stauffer placed 91^st at 22:57.25, McKenna Lechner was 169^th at 23:46.55, and Madison Ingram rounded out the scoring five in 200^th at 24:09.07. Ella Bartlett and Keelin Stewart also ran, finishing 216^th and 226^th among the field of 335 runners.
 
The race in the Midwest was the final tune-up for the Nighthawks before the GNAC Championships, which are set to be held at Amend Park in Billings, Montana, in two weeks.