MONMOUTH, Ore. – Chico State swept the women's 6,000 meters and men's 10,000 meters in the NCAA Division II West Region cross country meet Saturday at Ash Creek Preserve hosted by Western Oregon University. Montana State University Billings men finished 28^th of 28 teams while the women came in 27^th of 27 in the race.
 
Nikki Aiken marked MSUB's strongest performance and placed 106^th with a time of 22:39.5. Aiken was 2:17.7 off the winning pace, set by Emmanuela Chelimo (Alaska Anchorage), who ran six kilometers in 20:22.4. Kailee Stoppel took 155^th position after she crossed the line in 23:55.8 (3:33.8 seconds off the lead). Sierra Durbin (179^th, 25:23.3), Miranda Livingston (184^th, 27.25.1), and Rachel Hiner (185^th, 28:55.9) also closed out their cross country season at the event.
 
Ronald Venema finished first among MSUB men. Venema ran 10,000 meters in 33:06.2 and took 136^th place, 3:12.2 off the pace set by Josh Litwiller (Cal State San Marcos). Litwiller's winning time was 29:54.4. Not far behind Venema was Carson Jessop (146^th, 33:17.4), followed by Logan Straus (169^th, 34:00.0), Bryant Edgerton (171^st, 34:10.9), and Ase Ackerman (171^st 34:10.9). Non-scoring team members for MSUB included Will Steinfeldt (182^nd, 36:23.8) and Nick Redgrave (185^th. 37:23.8).
 
Jessop, Edgerton, Redgrave, and Steinfeldt all marked personal records for the 10,000 meter distance. Personal bests were also broken by Aiken, Durbin, Livingston, and Stoppel for the MSUB women.
 
"Overall, I felt it was the best team day we have had this season," said MSUB head coach Jon Woehl. "Ron and Carson eventually broke away for the men while Nikki and Kailee had strong efforts as well for the women. The personal bests we broke shows we've made improvements throughout the season."
 
Western Washington scored 139 to take the top spot among Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's teams. Alaska Anchorage took eighth and Simon Fraser was ninth. Northwest Nazarene came close to winning the women's race as a team but took second behind Chico State with 134 points in the women's 6K. Alaska Anchorage (4^th, 136), Seattle Pacific (5^th, 153), Western Washington (7^th, 175), and Simon Fraser (10^th, 243) also placed in the top-10.
 
Last season, MSU Billings took 16^th out of 24 schools in the men's NCAA DII West Region race at Amend Park in Billings. MSUB women's cross country was 23^rd of 26.
 
NCAA WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Ash Creek Preserve, Monmouth, Ore.
WOMEN
Team Scores (Top 3 Automatically Qualify For National Championships): Chico State 75, Northwest Nazarene 134, Cal State East Bay 142, Alaska Anchorage 146, Seattle Pacific 153, Cal Poly Pomona 168, Western Washington 175, Cal State San Marcos 234, Stanislaus State 238, Simon Fraser 243, UC San Diego 256, Fresno Pacific 334, Humboldt State 360, Biola 368, Concordia-Irvine 390, Academy of Art 432, Western Oregon 437, Central Washington 471, Cal State LA 496, Notre Dame de Namur 517, Azusa Pacific 556, Cal State Monterey Bay 597, San Francisco St. 617, Sonoma State 700, Concordia (Ore.) 731, Saint Martin's 755, Montana State Billings 771.
 
Top-10 Finishers: 1, Emmah Chelimo, UAA, 20:22.4 (Automatic Nationals Individual Qualifier). 2, Dania Holmberg, SPU, 20:49.5 (Automatic Nationals Individual Qualifier). 3, Olivia Willett, SFU, 20:51.6 (Automatic Nationals Individual Qualifier). 4, Nancy Jeptoo, UAA, 20:53.0 (Automatic Nationals Individual Qualifier). 5, Destiny Everett, CSUC, 20:56.2. 6, Grace Knapp, WOU, 20:57.4. 7, Nancy Juarez, STAN, 20:57.9. 8, Kate Lilly, SPU, 20:59.4. 9, Talia Swangler, CSUC, 21:03.6. 10, Angelina Ronquillo, CSUEB, 21:03.6.
 
MEN
Team Scores (Top 3 Automatically Qualify For NCAA Championships): Chico State 43, Cal Poly Pomona 115, Cal State San Marcos 121, Stanislaus State 135, Western Washington 139, Biola 167, UC San Diego 199, Alaska Anchorage 216, Simon Fraser 243, Academy of Art 260, Humboldt State 326, Northwest Nazarene 330, Western Oregon 357, Cal State East Bay 405, Notre Dame de Namur 443, San Francisco St. 451, Central Washington 465, Concordia-Irvine 496, Seattle Pacific 514, Saint Martin's 523, Cal State LA 546, Alaska 571, Fresno Pacific 625, Cal St. Monterey Bay 628, Azusa Pacific 636, Hawaii Pacific 653, Concordia (Ore.) 784, Montana State Billings 787.
 
Top-10 Finishers: 1, Josh Litwiller, CSUSM, 29:54.4. 2, Trad Berti, CSUC, 26:56.7. 3, Aren Johnson, UCSD, 29:57.4 (Automatic Nationals Individual Qualifier), 4, Gabe Plendcio, BIOLA, 30:01.2 (Automatic Nationals Individual Qualifier), 5, Wyatt Baxter, CSUC, 30:02.4. 6, Joseph Macareno, STAN, 30:03.2. 7, Daniel Tull, HSU, 30:10.6. 8, Felix Kemboi, UAA, 30:11.9. 9, Wesley Kirui, UAA, 30:13.4. 10, Eamon Smythe, CPP, 30:14.3.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets begin indoor track and field season with the MSU Bobcat Open on December 7 in Bozeman, Montana.