Bearcats Finish Sixth in 2024-25 NWC McIlroy-Lewis All-Sports Standings
Willamette University finished the 2024-25 athletic season with a sixth-place finish in the McIlroy-Lewis All-Sports standings with a total of 168 points. Points are awarded based on a school's order of finish in the nineteen sports sponsored by the Northwest Conference. Willamette offers twenty varsity sports, but Women's Triathlon is not yet a conference sport. The top finishing teams for the Bearcats this past year were Men's Golf (1st), Women's Cross Country (2nd), Women's Lacrosse (3rd), Women's Track & Field (3rd), and Men's Track & Field (3rd).
Men's Golf won its fifth NWC Championship in the past six seasons by finishing in first place in the NWC Fall and Spring Classics and second place in the final event, the NWC Championship. The team finished the three-event swing with a team stroke total of 1737, seven strokes ahead of Whitman College. Oliver Smith was named the NWC Player of the Year, and Brock Olson was also a member of the first team.
Women's Cross Country ran to a second-place finish at the 2024 NWC Cross Country Championships, hosted by Willamette at Oak Knoll Golf Club. Zoe Heino finished fifth overall, followed by Morgan Shaw in seventh place and Anna Bikle in thirteenth. Anastasiia Lemesh and Lilian Courtnage-Dyke finished the scoring for the Bearcats, who ended with a three-point advantage over Whitworth University.
The women's Lacrosse team finished with an overall record of 9-7 and a conference record of 6-2 to earn a third-place finish. The Bearcats scored twenty goals or more in four of their six conference wins and were led by NWC Offensive Player of the Year Lily Bachiochi and NWC Defensive Player of the Year Jay Shiflett.
Women's Track & Field ran, threw, and jumped to a third-place finish at the 2025 NWC Track & Field Championships. The Bearcats had top-ten finishes across several events and were led by multiple top-eight finishes by Mashani Coleman Toliver, Tenley Grant, Morgan Shaw, Erica Snyder, Ella Thompson, and Katherine Thornton. Thompson was named NWC Rookie of the Year for her performances across the heptathlon, long jump, triple jump, and 4x100m relay.
Men's Track & Field also finished in third place at the 2025 NWC Track & Field Championships on the strength of several top finishes and three individual conference champions. Kaleb McArthur was named Men's Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet by winning both the long jump and triple jump, and Roan Bashioum took home the title in the hammer throw. Elijah Jones took second in the pole vault, and the 4x400m relay team of Cole Beneventi, Myles Crandall, Finn Gibson, and Dustin Harzmann also finished second.
Several Wllamette teams earned fifth-place finishes during 2024-25, including Women's Soccer, Volleyball, Women's Swimming, Baseball, and Softball.