Bearcats Receive All-Academic Honors from USTFCCCA for 2015-16
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Six Willamette University track and field athletes have been chosen for the 2015-16 NCAA Division III All-Academic Track and Field Team as selected by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Student-athletes earned the award through academic and athletic success.
Each All-Academic athlete recorded a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher (4.0 scale), while either competing at the NCAA Division III Championships or by finishing the regular season ranked in the top 35 nationally in an individual event or in the top 25 in a relay event.
The USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for women's track and field included 423 athletes from 129 NCAA Division III institutions. The USTFCCCA All-Academic Team in men's track and field had 293 athletes from 106 teams.
Willamette's All-Academic selections were Ami Boucher (Jr., Concord, CA/Northgate HS), Hannah Bressler (Sr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS), Olivia Mancl (Jr./So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), Taylor Ostrander (Sr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) and Hannah Swanson (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) from the women's team, and Hans Lehndorff (Sr., Boulder, CO/Boulder HS) from the men's team.
USTFCCCA All-Academic Women's Track and Field Team
Ami Boucher (Jr.) finished the 2016 season ranked 34th in NCAA Division III in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. She registered a career-best time of 11:05.22 at the San Francisco State University Distance Carnival on April 1. She is listed seventh on Willamette's top 10 list in the steeplechase.
Boucher also recorded a personal record time of 4:46.88 in the 1,500-meter run at the Willamette Invitational this season. Boucher, who is majoring in Exercise Science, is on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team in track and field for the first time.
Hannah Bressler (Sr.) earned USTFCCCA All-Academic status for the third year in a row. This spring, she qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second season in row. She took 21st place at the national meet in both 2015 and 2016. She set a personal record time of 10:52.58 at the SFSU Distance Carnival this year.
Bressler's best time is fifth on Willamette's all-time list in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She won the steeplechase title at this year's NWC Championships. She placed second in the steeplechase in 2014 and was fourth in 2013 and 2015. Bressler graduated from Willamette this spring with a major in Exercise Science.
Olivia Mancl (Jr./So.) was named to the All-Academic Team for the second consecutive season. This year, she placed 19th at the NCAA Championships in the 5,000-meter run. In 2015, she took ninth place in NCAA Division III in the 1,500-meter run.
She recorded her career top time in the 5,000 this spring in 16:46.99 at the Willamette Invitational (March 26). Her time ranks second on the Bearcats' all-time list. She also set her career-best time in the 1,500 this spring, as she completed the race in 4:30.85 at the SFSU Distance Carnival to rank 11th in Division III during the regular season. She is third on Willamette's all-time list in the 1,500.
A year ago, Mancl won the NWC title in the 1,500-meter run. She was third in the 800-meter run, as she recorded All-NWC status in two events.
Mancl is majoring in Biology. She was named First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII this year.
Taylor Ostrander (Sr.) competed at the NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the fourth year in a row this spring. She placed 11th in the nation this year. She also placed 11th in 2014, was 13th in 2015 and took 22nd place in 2013. Her top time in the steeplechase this year was 10:47.17.
She won the NWC title in the 5,000-meter run in 2014, 2015 and 2016. She also won an NWC championship in the steeplechase in 2014. She was second in the steeplechase in 2015 and was third in 2013. In addition, she placed second in the NWC in the 10,000-meter run in 2015.
Her personal record time of 10:40.86 in the steeplechase was earned at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, during the Oregon Twilight on May 9, 2014. That time placed her third on Willamette's all-time list. She is sixth on the all-time list in the 5,000-meter run and is fifth in the 10,000-meter run.
Ostrander graduated from Willamette this spring after completing a major in Exercise Science. She was chosen First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. She received the Jean Williams Award for 2016-16 as the top senior women's athlete at Willamette.
Hannah Swanson (So.), who is majoring in Biology, earned USTFCCCA All-Academic status in track and field for the first time this spring. She ran at the 2016 NCAA Division III Championships in the 1,500-meter run and finished in 13th place with a time of 4:35.68.
Swanson registered a personal record time of 4:33.03 at the Portland Twilight on May 5, 2016 to secure her trip to nationals. She is listed fifth in the 1,500-meter run on Willamette's all-time list.
This year, she placed second in the 1,500 at the Northwest Conference Championships. She also took second place in the NWC in the 1,500 in 2015. She finished sixth in the NWC in the 800-meter run in 2015.
USTFCCCA All-Academic Men's Track and Field Team
Hans Lehndorff (Sr.) was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for the first time this year. He concluded the season ranked 26th in NCAA Division III in the discus and was 31st in the shot put after setting personal records in both events.
His top mark in the discus covered 158' 2" on his final throw at the NWC Championships on April 23. It moved him into third place on Willamette's all-time list. It was the best throw by a Bearcat since 1963. Lehndorff's top throw in the shot put -- also at the NWC Championships -- covered 52' 5.25". He moved into fifth place all-time at Willamette.
Lehndorff won NWC discus championships in 2014 and 2016. He was fourth in the discus in 2013 and was fifth in 2015. He took second place this year in the NWC in the shot put.
This spring, Lehndorff graduated with a double major in Economics and Religious Studies. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and was named First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII.
He was the winner of the 2015-16 J.H. Booth Award as Willamette's top senior men's athlete. Lehndorff also earned the Men's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award after earning the highest cumulative grade point average among graduating seniors on Willamette's men's teams.