Women's Track and Field Team is Ranked #19 in NCAA Division III

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- The women's track and field team at Willamette University advanced one spot this week to #19 in NCAA Division III in national rankings released this week by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Willamette is ranked #4 in the women's rankings for the West Region.

Listed at the top of the women's national computer rankings is University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with 193.83 points. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater follows at #2 with 136.39 points. The Warhawks hold slim lead over University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in third at 135.62 and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) in #4 at 135.34.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked #5 at 98.25 points. Wartburg College (Iowa) holds the #6 spot with 95.75 points, while George Fox University is #7 at 90.79. Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) is #8 with 89.16 points and Illinois Wesleyan University is #9 at 85.77. California Lutheran University is listed at #10 with 81.69 points. Willamette is #19 at 50.41.

Overall, three teams from the Northwest Conference are included in the women's national rankings. In addition to George Fox and Willamette, Whitworth University is #20 with 49.72 points.

Team rankings are determined by assigning points to those athletes ranked high on the national performance lists (including the top 2014 marks for returning athletes during the first three weeks of the season). Team scores are the sum of their athletes point totals.

The top team in the men's national rankings is UW-La Crosse with 196.97 points. University of Mount Union (Ohio) is ranked #2 with 151.08 points, while University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is #3 at 132.12 and North Central College (Illinois) is #4 at 99.71. UW-Whitewater is #5 with 96.86 points.

In the West Region women's rankings, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) is #1 at 628.17 points. George Fox is #2 at 482.93, Whitworth is #3 at 407.98 and Willamette is #4 at 384.21. University of Redlands (Calif.) holds the #5 ranking at 248.68.

GFU, Whitworth and Willamette are three of five teams from the NWC included in the women's regional rankings. Pacific Lutheran University is #9 and Linfield College is #10.

The West Region men's rankings are topped by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 529.13, with Whitworth in second at 488.12. George Fox is third with 301.46 points.

Four members of the Willamette women's team are ranked in the top 10 this week on the NCAA Division III performance list.

Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) is ranked #1 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 10:54.98. Hannah Bressler (Jr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) follows at #2 in the steeplechase at 10:59.31, and Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) is #5 at 11:03.61.

Olivia Mancl (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) is #2 in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:34.71 at the Willamette Invitational this past weekend. Her time is fifth on the Bearcats' all-time list.