BILLINGS, Mont. - The Alaska Nanooks cross country teams raced at the 2024 NCAA Division II West Regional Race hosted by Montana State Billings. The men's team opened up the day at 8 a.m. AKST with the 10k race before the women's team raced at 9:15 a.m. AKST with a 6k race. 

The men's team raced to a 19th-place finish in the West Regional Championships, finishing with 553 points. Chico State won the men's race with a team score of 40 and Western Washington took second with 54 points, claiming the top GNAC finish. 

Ben Browning led the way for the Nanooks at the regional race, finishing 77th with a time of 32:39.84. That earned 77 points for the 'Nooks. Ben Dohlby followed close behind, finishing 106th with a time of 33:25.01. He earned 105 points for Alaska with the finish. Finn Morley and Clem Taylor-Roth were the third and fourth finishers for the Nanooks as Morley took 120th place and Taylor-Roth finished 126th. Morley finished in 34:00.12 and Taylor-Roth posted a finishing time of 34:16.32. Koen Ross and Jace Peters rounded out the racers for Alaska; Ross finished 133rd with a time of 34:39.67 and Peters took 138th with a time of 34:57.30.

As a team, they averaged a time of 33:48.19.

The women's team picked up a fourth-place finish behind a one-two finish by Rosie Fordham and Kendall Kramer. Chico State won the women's race with a score of 104 and Western Washington was the top GNAC team, placing second with 115 points. 

Rosie Fordham won the NCAA DII West Regional race with a first-place time of 19:52.68, the  only athlete to go sub-20. Her teammate and fellow Nanook, Kendall Kramer, followed right behind in second-place with a time of 20:06.84. The finishes earned the two All-Region honors. The two also combined for five points.

Tabitha Williams was the third Nanooks racer to cross the finish line, placing 25th with a time of 21:50.11, earning 35 points for the Nanooks. Katharine Brigham followed behind in 50th, crossing the finish line in 22:18.87 for 49 points. After Brigham, the final three Nanooks racers to finish were Lucca Duke, Teegan Silva, and Riga Grubis. Duke was the final scoring Nanooks racer, earning 77 points with a time of 22:51.86. Silva finished 99th with a time of 23:12.67 and Grubis rounded out the Nanooks lineup with a 181st-place finish and time of 26:50.16.

Fordham felt how special this race was, especially in her final season, "The race shaped up differently to what has transpired the rest of the season. Annika [Esvelt] went out fast and Kendall and I latched on before extending halfway through the race. We worked together through the midsection and with 2k to go, I thought she'd broke me, but in a last-ditch effort with 1k to go, I thought I'd give it a shot and I'm stoked it paid off. It's incredible to go 1-2 again this week and a special moment for our final season to run together at the front of a big race like regions." 

Assistant coach Conrad Haber echoed the execution by Fordham and Kramer and was excited to see their hard work pay off again, "It was an awesome day for the women's program and an absolute pleasure to watch Rosie and Kendall go to work during their last regional championship. Each athlete executed their respective race plans and found ways to maximize their effort during a mentally and physically challenging competition." 

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