BILLINGS, Mont. – The Alaska Nanooks cross country teams are headed to Billings, Mont. for the 2022 NCAA West Region Cross Country Championships. Montana State Billings will host the West Regional with races beginning at 8:00 a.m. AKT. 
 
Saturday, Nov. 19
NCAA West Region Championships | Men at 8:00 a.m. | Women at 9:15 a.m. | Live Timing
Billings, Mont. | Amend Park | Men – 10k, Women – 6k
 
Last Time Out
The Nanooks last competed on Nov. 5 at Western Oregon in the 2022 GNAC Championships. The race was held at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore. and was scene to the Nanooks women's team taking 1-2 hand-in-hand. Kendall Kramer claimed the first-place finish with a time of 20:37.00 while Naomi Bailey followed with a final time of 20:37.01 – the two crossed the finish line holding hands, taking first and second and getting the Nanooks women's team three team points. Rosie Fordham finished fifth for the Nanooks, completing their top-five finishes in the women's race. Delainey Zock was the fourth finisher and Teegan Silva rounded out the five racers for Alaska, taking 66^th-place. The 'Nooks women's team finished fifth overall with 91 team points. 
 
In the men's race the Nanooks were led by Ryan Owens, who finished 59^th. He was followed by Nolan Earnest in 61^st-place with a time of 27:44.0. Koen Ross was the third Alaska finisher in the men's race, taking 67^th with a time of 28:15.50 and Josh Baurick and Jack Cater rounded out the Alaskan finishers. Baurick took 72^nd-overall while Cater took 73^rd. The men's team ended the GNAC Championships with 285 points, finishing 10^th. 
 
#NookNotes

• There will be no live stream at the 2022 NCAA West Regional Championships. Live timing can be found using the link above. 
• The Nanooks look to repeat their regional success from last year; they sent Naomi Bailey, Rosie Fordham and Kendall Kramer to the NCAA Championships as individual qualifiers after they finished 4-5-6 at Western Oregon last season. 
• Neither team qualified in the team standings a year ago as the men's and women's teams had only four finishers.
• With the three top-10 finishes, Bailey, Fordham and Kramer all earned All-West Region Honors (top-25 finish earns All-West Region)
• Four of the five women's racers will race at their second regional race; Bailey, Fordham, Kramer, Zock. 
• Three men's team members raced at last year's regional in Monmouth, Ore.; Jack Cater, Nolan Earnest and Koen Ross. 
• Ross is the top-returner from a year ago; he finished 134^th with a time of 35:37.9. Earnest took 142^ndwith a time of 37:30.6 and Cater took 145^th with a time of 38:10.9.

Weather Update
The Nanooks are looking at cold weather in Billings, Mont. It will be anywhere from 15-21 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the race. They are calling for 20mph winds with 56% humidity and a 0% chance of precipitation. It will be mostly sunny during the race. 
 
Regional Rankings
The women's team appeared in the Week Seven NCAA DII Women's Cross Country Regional Rankings. After coming in at #9 in week six, the Nanooks dropped to the #10-rank in week seven. 
 
Coaches Quote
Graduate assistant coach Josh Sanderlin had this to say heading into tomorrow's NCAA West Regional Race, "I'm very excited to watch these athlete's race. This is a special group, one that in my very young career is striking me as being quite rare. We are also all in a unique situation of getting to race in seriously harsh winter conditions, with snow on the ground. This is a scenario that athletes do not encounter very often at all, so it'll be exciting to see how it impacts the race."
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks cross country teams, follow @NanooksXC on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.