Women's Cross Country is #11 in Nation; Men are Fourth in West Region

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

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University women's cross country team is ranked #11 in the NCAA Division III Poll released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday, Sept. 17. The Bearcat women are ranked #1 in the West Region, while the men's team is ranked #4 in the West Region.

Johns Hopkins University (Md.) remained the top-ranked team in the women's National Poll with all eight first place votes and 280 points. Williams College (Mass.) held the #2 ranking with 266 points. St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) moved up 17 spots into the #3 position with 260 points.

University of Chicago (Ill.) was listed at #4 with 254 points, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology moved from sixth into fifth place with 243 points. Oberlin College (Ohio) dropped one spot into #6 with 242 points.

SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) was #7 with 237 points and Middlebury College (Vt.) was eighth with 230 points. New York University remained at #9 with 207 points, while Dickinson College (Pa.) moved up two spots to take over the #10 position with 205 points. Willamette was just one point behind Dickinson, as the Bearcats were #11 with 204 points.

Willamette slipped four positions in the poll despite a quality win last week over the University of Alaska-Anchorage, which competes in NCAA Division II. The Bearcats were led by Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS), who took first place and a led a 1-2-5 finish.

The men's National Poll was topped by St. Olaf College (Minn.), with five first place votes and 277 points. St. Olaf received the same number of total points and first place votes in the Preseason Poll.

North Central College (Ill.) remained at #2 with the three other first place votes and 275 points. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire held the #3 spot with 263 points. St. Lawrence made a huge jump from #25 up to #4 with 246 points. Central College (Iowa) was #5 with 245 points.

Willamette continued to own the #1 ranking in the women's West Region Rankings. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) kept its #2 ranking and Whitworth University remained at #3. Whitman College stayed at #4, while Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) advanced one spot in to the #5 ranking.

In addition to Willamette, Whitworth and Whitman, Lewis & Clark also represented the Northwest Conference at #6.

Listed at #1 in the men's West Region Rankings was Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which moved up three spots from the Preseason Rankings. Pomona-Pitzer dropped from the top spot into the #2 position. Occidental College (Calif.) was ranked #3 and Willamette was ranked #4, as each team also slipped one spot. Whitman advanced one position and was ranked #5.

Also ranked in the West Region was NWC opponent University of Puget Sound. The Loggers were #6 after holding the #9 spot in the Preseason Rankings.

The Bearcats will host the Oak Knoll Loop Run on Saturday, Sept. 20. Start time for the meet is 10:30 a.m. (PDT). The men's and women's races will take place at the Oak Knoll Golf Course near Independence, Ore.