MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Montana State University Billings men's cross country team got the best of a few more Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams and five women set new personal bests in the 6K at the NCAA D2 West Regional, held at Western Oregon University's Ash Creek Preserve on Saturday.

"Overall, it was a great day," MSUB head coach Jonathan Woehl said. "The teams handled the conditions well. Both the men's and women's teams can carry this finish on to track season, and I think our whole track team can build on where our cross country teams finished. It seems like we're on an upward trajectory as a program."
 
Ase Ackerman, who placed 33^rd in the men's race, ran the seventh-fastest 10K in program history with a 31:47.1 and led the way for the MSUB men. Kailee Stoppel was MSUB's top women's finisher for the fifth time this season with a 23:17.5 6-kilometer time.
 
"Kailee did well," Woehl said. "It was good to see her get out and go for it today. It was probably not as fast as she was shooting for but she put herself in position to succeed."
 
Over on the men's side, the Yellowjackets achieved what they set out to do by picking off more GNAC teams and finishing fifth amongst their conference competitors. Aside from Ackerman, senior Carson Jessop ran the program's 11^th-fastest 10K time with a 32:13.1, which was good for 49^th place.
 
"It was great to see our top three men all up in the front pack at the start and to see each of them battle," Woehl said. "There were several moments in the race when they could have called it, but they kept plugging away. I thought Carson did a great job closing out the race; he had a strong last mile. He always tells himself 'don't get got, go get,' and he was getting past people."
 
Logan Straus (32:34.3, 64^th), Bryant Edgerton (33:39.1, 103^rd) and Jordi Peiro (35:35.6, 130^th) rounded out the scoring for the men's team. MSUB finished seventh at the conference meet two weeks ago, but gapped teams like Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington to take 12^th amongst the region's 21 scoring teams.
 
"The men were all stoked with how they ran – much more than how they did at GNACs," Woehl said. "They beat some more GNAC teams and were nearly in the top half of the region. I'm stoked too. I didn't know what to expect, so nearly being in the top 10 feels good."
 
Over on the women's side, Kendra Woods, Ally Whitmer, Sierra Durbin and Kit Wiersema set new 6K PRs and finished 2-5 in order to help the 'Jackets beat a few teams. MSUB finished 22^nd out of 24 scoring teams.
 
"Sierra did awesome," Woehl said. "Kendra, Kit and Ally are all gaining experience with the 6K distance, and it was good to see them improve from GNACs."
 
Simon Fraser's women's team won by a 75-91 margin over Stanislaus State. Chico State beat conference foe Fresno Pacific by a 47-109 margin to win the men's regional title. Stanislaus State junior Kaela Dishon won the women's race with a 21:14.4; whereas Fresno Pacific's Patrick Kiprop won with a wire-to-wire 30:12.6.
 
UP NEXT: The NCAA will announce the at-large bids via a press release on Monday, Nov. 8.