Willamette Athletes are Ranked in Top 25 on NCAA Division III Performance List
By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
SALEM, Ore. -- A total of eight Willamette University track and field athletes are ranked in the top 25 on the NCAA Division III performance list for the 2016 season. On Saturday, May 21, when the NCAA announces selections for the NCAA Championships, the top 20 athletes in each men's event and the top 22 athletes in each women's event will be included.
In the current rankings, Olivia Mancl (Jr./So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) leads the way for the Bearcats and is listed in the top 10 in two events. She is ranked seventh in the women's 5,000-meter run with a top time of 16:46.99 at the Willamette Invitational. Mancl is listed 10th in the women's 1,500-meter run. Her best time of the season in the 1,500 is 4:30.85 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival on April 1.
Taylor Ostrander (Sr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) is ranked ninth in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and is on target to be selected for her fourth consecutive NCAA Championship in the event. She recorded her top time of 10:47.17 at the OSU High Performance Meet on April 29.
Two other Bearcats are among the top 25 runners in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Hannah Bressler (Sr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) is ranked 12th with a time of 10:52.58 and Ami Boucher (Jr., Concord, CA/Northgate HS) is listed at #23 with a top result of 11:05.22. Bressler and Boucher earned their season-best times at the SFSU Distance Carnival.
Hans Lehndorff (Sr., Boulder, CO/Boulder HS) is included on two lists for the Bearcats. He is 18th in the men's discus with a top distance of 158' 2" at the Northwest Conference Championships. In the shot put, he is ranked 21s with a season-best throw of 52' 5.25", also at the NWC Championships.
Hannah Swanson (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) currently holds 19th place in the women's 1,500-meter run. She recorded a time of 4:33.08 to set a personal record at the OSU High Performance Meet.
In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Patrick Loftus (So., Santa Rosa, CA/Sonoma Academy) is listed 22nd. Like Swanson, he earned a personal record time at the OSU High Peformance Meet, completing the steeplechase in 9:17.96.
Three Bearcats will compete at the Oregon Twilight on Friday, May 6 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Swanson is scheduled to participate in the women's 1,500-meter run, Loftus is set to run in the men's steeplechase, and Lehndorff is included among competitors in the men's shot put and men's discus.
Lehdnorff also is scheduled to throw at the Linfield Open on Saturday, May 7 in McMinnville, Oregon.