KENOSHA, Wis. – In its first time competing as a team at the NCAA DII Cross Country National Championships, Northwest Nazarene put forth a great showing against the top runners in the nation.
 
As a team, the Nighthawks placed 20th out of the 34 competing squads. NNU came into nationals ranked 23^rd by the USTFCCCA, so they improved on that prediction by three slots.
 
Wingate took the team title with 62 points, followed by Adams State with 71 and Colorado School of Mines with 121. Western Washington was the top GNAC school, finishing ninth with 374 points, followed by Alaska Anchorage in 16^th with 459 points and then NNU with 541 points, just two ahead of Alabama Huntsville for that 20^th spot.
 
In the capstone of his stellar Nighthawks career, senior Brody Kemble led the squad with a 47^th place finish. His time of 30:51.7 was just eight seconds shy of the top 40 and an All-American recognition.
 
Fellow senior Grady Mylander came in 63^rd with a time of 31:04.8, followed by Ian Stockett in 83^rd at 31:26.0.
 
Asher Ingram was fourth for NNU in 189^th, followed by Micah Chi 227^th, Aaron Heberlein 230^th, and Neftali Menendez 234^th amongst the field of 262 competitors.
 
The nationals race caps a fantastic season for the Nighthawks, who earned the program's first-ever NCAA DII Championships team qualifier after placing fifth at regionals and third at GNACs.