Bearcat Women's Track and Field Team Stays Ranked at #19
SALEM, ORE. -- For the second consecutive week the Willamette University women's track and field team is ranked #19 in NCAA Division III in the national computer rankings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Willamette also continues to hold #4 in the women's West Region rankings.
Willamette also Remains #4 in the West Region
SALEM, ORE. -- For the second consecutive week the Willamette University women's track and field team is ranked #19 in NCAA Division III in the national computer rankings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Willamette also continues to hold #4 in the women's West Region rankings.
The #1 team in the women's national rankings is University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with 194.66 points. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is listed at #2 with 135.62 points, while University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is just 0.11 back at #3 with 135.51 points.
Johns Hopkins University (Md.) owns the #4 ranking at 130.64 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked #5 at 98.25 points, while Wartburg College (Iowa) is #6 at 95.29 and George Fox University is #7 at 89.62. California Lutheran University advanced two spots from #10 up to #8 with 88.64 points.
Rounding out the top 10 are Baldwin Wallace College (Ohio) at #9 with 88.02 and Illinois Wesleyan College at #10 with 84.31. Willamette is #19 with 51.93 points.
George Fox and Willamette are two of three tams from the Northwest Conference included in this week's women's national rankings. Whitworth University holds down the #23 ranking with 45.24 points.
Team rankings are determined by assigning points to athletes ranked high on the national performance lists (including the top 2014 marks for returning athletes during the first three weeks of the season). Team scores are the sum of their athletes point totals.
Leading the men's national rankings is UW-La Crosse at 192.68 points. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire follows at #2 with 142.38 points, and North Central College (Illinois) is #3 at 128.08. University of Mount Union (Ohio) is listed at #4 with 98.78 points. UW-Whitewater is ranked #5 with 98.58 points.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) tops the West Region women's rankings with 636.14 points. George Fox is #2 at 468.17, while Whitworth is #3 at 403.66. Willamette is #4 at 379.80 and University of Redlands (Calif.) follows at #5 with 250.32 points.
In addition to GFU, Whitworth and Willamette, other regionally-ranked NWC teams are Linfield College and Pacific Lutheran University. Linfield is #9 and Pacific Lutheran is #10, after the teams switched positions from last week's rankings.
The West Region men's rankings include Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at #1 with 519.16 points. Whitworth is #2 at 460.57 and Occidental College (Calif.) is #3 at 326.63. Redlands holds the #4 ranking at 303.09 and George Fox is #5 at 294.26 after falling two spots from last week.
Four members of the Willamette women's team are ranked in the top 10 this week on the NCAA Division III performance list. Three of the athletes are ranked in the top five in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) is ranked #1 in the steeplechase with a personal record time of 10:30.09 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival on April 3. Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) is #3 with a time of 10:52.24, also at the SFSU meet. Hannah Bressler (Jr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) is #5 at 10:59.31.
Olivia Mancl (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) is #5 in the 1,500-meter run at 4:34.71. She registered her top time at the Willamette Invitational on March 28.
Taylor Ostrander of Willamette is ranked #3 in the nation in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:52.24.