Willamette Men's Track and Field is 9th, Women's Team is 15th, in West Region

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's track and field team is ninth in the final West Region rankings and the Bearcat women's team is 15th in the final West Region rankings for the 2019 NCAA Division III season as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) was ranked #1 in the West Region men's rankings with 882.30 points. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) was #2 with 856.34 points, and George Fox University was #3 at 850.00. University of Redlands (Calif.) held the #4 spot at 630.67. Whitworth University was #5 at 444.96.

Occidental College (Calif.) followed in the #6 ranking at 420.08, with Pacific University in the #7 spot at 310.08. Linfield College was #8 at 294.54. Willamette was #9 at 286.62 and University of La Verne was #10 at 245.69.

The West Region women's rankings were topped by George Fox with 971.94 points. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps held the #2 position with 685.26 points and Redlands was #3 at 638.02. Pacific Lutheran University was #4 at 468.69 and Whitworth was #5 at 443.01.

Occidental owned the #6 spot at 438.99 and Pomona-Pitzer was #7 at 438.42. La Verne was ranked #8 at 412.63, Pacific was #9 at 340.01 and California Lutheran University was listed at #10 with 297.62 points. Willamette was #15 at 181.80.

Willamette will be represented at the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships by three Bearcats. Keaton Beckmann (So., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) will compete in the decathlon, with Hope Duenas (Jr., Covina, CA/Covina HS) throwing the discus and Keith Carlson participating in the 5,000-meter run. The NCAA Championships will be held at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, from Thursday, May 23 through Saturday, May 25.