Willamette is Regionally Ranked in Men's and Women's Cross Country

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- In this week's West Region Rankings for NCAA Division III, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the Willamette University men's team is ranked #5 and the Bearcat women's team is ranked #8.

The West Region men's rankings were led by Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.), which remained at #1. Occidental College (Calif.) stayed at #2 and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) kept its hold on the #3 position. Pacific Lutheran University moved up one spot to #4 and Willamette advanced one spot to #5. Lewis & Clark College fell from #4 to #6.

No other teams changed positions in the top 10. Holding onto their rankings from a week ago were University of California, Santa Cruz at #7, Whittier College (Calif.) at #8, University of Redlands (Calif.) at #9, and Whitworth University at #10.

In the West Region women's rankings, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps continued at #1, as did all of the other teams listed in the top 10. In a total repeat from last week, Whitworth remained at #2, with Linfield College at #3, Occidental at #4, and University of Puget Sound at #5. Pomona-Pitzer held at #6, with Redlands at #7, Willamette at #8, George Fox University at #9 and Whitman College at #10.

This coming weekend, the Bearcats will participate in two cross country meets on Saturday, Oct. 14. One group of Bearcats will run at the UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin, while another group will compete at the Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park in Estacada, Oregon.