Bearcats Remain Ranked in West Region of NCAA Division III

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

SALEM, ORE. -- The track and field teams from Willamette University continue to hold their positions from a week ago in this week's rankings for the West Region of NCAA Division III, as released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Willamette remained #4 in the West Region women's rankings and kept the #5 listing in the West Region men's rankings.

Listed #1 in the West Region among women's teams is Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) with 477.73 points. CMS moved up from the #2 position to edge out George Fox University for the top spot. George Fox dropped to #2 with 474.79 points. California Lutheran University is #3 with 392.66 points, while Willamette is #4 at 361.48 and the University of La Verne (Calif.) is #5 at 306.23.

George Fox and Willamette are joined by two other Northwest Conference teams in the women's regional rankings. They are Linfield College at #7 and Whitworth University at #8.

Topping the rankings for men's teams in the West Region is Whitworth University with 506.50 points. The University of Redlands (Calif.) is ranked #2 with 404.63 points and La Verne is ranked #3 with 366.87 points. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is #4 at 361.35 and Willamette is #5 at 283.80.

A total of four NWC teams are included in the men's regional rankings. In addition to Whitworth and Willamette, the other NWC teams in the rankings are Pacific Lutheran University at #6 and Linfield at #10.

Leading the NCAA Division III women's national rankings is Wartburg College (Iowa) with 336.95 points, an increase of about 17.33 points from 319.62 last week. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh stayed at #2 with 173.56 points and Washington University (Mo.) held at #3 with 115.68 points.

Methodist College (N.C.) remained in the #4 spot at 98.75, while the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse used a very successful week to advance to #5 at 92.25, an increase of nearly 60 points from a week ago.

McMurry University (Texas) continued to be the #1 team in the men's national rankings with 231.26 points. UW-La Crosse kept the #2 spot at 171.71 points, while UW-Oshkosh held #3 at 159.00. North Central College (Ill.) maintained its position at #4 team with 147.07 points. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater advanced three spots to #5 with 142.03 points.

Willamette will host the West Coast Invitational on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12.

The only action on Friday will be the first four events in the heptathlon and the first five events in the decathlon, with the competition beginning at 11 a.m. (PDT). On Saturday, the multi-events will begin again at 11 a.m., while the field events will start at 12 p.m. and the running events will get underway at 5 p.m.