Bearcats are Ready for National Championships in Cross Country

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

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University women's cross country team, along with men's runner Yonny Castillo (Jr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley), will compete at the 2014 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 22 in Mason, Ohio. The races will be held at The Golf Center at King's Island.

Action will begin with the men's 8-kilometer race at 11 a.m. EST/8 a.m. PST. The women's 6-kilometer race is set to start at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST.

Willamette's women received an automatic team bid to the NCAA Championships by winning the West Region title at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem, Ore., on Saturday, Nov. 15. The Bearcats achieved a team score of 16 with a 1-2-3-4-6 finish. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.), which took second place with a score of 54, also received an automatic team berth into the championship race.

Castillo was one of seven runners from the West Region and 56 runners nationwide who received individual at-large bids to the NCAA Championships. Castillo placed 10th at the West Region meet. The top seven runners from each region who teams did not qualify for the championships received individual at-large bids.

With a team entry, Willamette has brought eight runners to Ohio. Seven of the runners will compete in Saturday's championship race.

The eight athletes representing the Bearcats are Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS), Olivia Mancl (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS), Juliet Farnan (Jr., Lafayette, CA/Campolindo HS), Hannah Bressler (Jr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS), Alyssa Reese (Fr., Louisville, CO/Monarch HS), Hannah Swanson (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) and Jessica Talbot (Fr., San Francisco, CA/Gateway HS).

Willamette took 12th place in the women's team standings at the 2013 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships last fall. Freeby finished in eighth place to earn All-America honors. Ostrander placed 41st and Mancl was 80th. A total of 280 runners participated in the race, with the top 35 receiving All-America recognition.

Six of last year's top 10 finishers in the women's race are back to battle for the individual title this season. Chelsea Johnson, who won the 2013 championship, completed her eligibility at College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) and won't be able to defend her title.

Top returning runners from last season are Noelle Olson from St. Olaf College (Minn.), who took second, Hannah Oneda from Johns Hopkins University (Md.), who was fourth, Lucy Cheadle from Washington University (Mo.), who placed fifth, Amy Regan from Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.), who took sixth, Freeby, who was eighth, and Catherine Young from University of Chicago, who was ninth.

Johns Hopkins, ranked #1 in the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Poll, has two runners back from the top 15 a year ago. In addition to Oneda, the Blue Jays also return Frances Loeb, who placed 15th in 2013.

Other top five teams in the rankings are Massachusetts Institute of Technology at #2, St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) at #3, plus SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) at #4 and Middlebury College (Vt.) tied at #4. Willamette enters the championships ranked #9 in the nation.

Castillo has earned All-West Region honors each of the past two seasons. He will be competing at the NCAA Championships for the first time.