WU Women's Cross Country Team is Tied for 7th in National Preseason Poll

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University is tied for seventh in the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country National Preseason Poll released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Bearcat women's team also is ranked #1 in the West Region, while the men's team is ranked #3 in the West Region.

Johns Hopkins University (Md.) topped the women's Preseason Poll with all eight first place votes and 280 points. Williams College (Mass.) was ranked #2 with 271 points, while Middlebury College (Vt.) was listed third with 265 points.

University of Chicago (Ill.) held the #4 national ranking with 252 points. Oberlin College (Ohio) followed in fifth with 245 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology was sixth with 243 points.

Willamette was tied for seventh with Calvin College (Mich.). Each team received 221 points in the poll. The Willamette women's team placed 12th at the 2013 NCAA Division III National Championships. Top runner Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) took eighth place individually to earn All-America honors.

Rounding out the Top 10 in the women's poll were New York University at #9 with 203 points and SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) in 10th with 202 points.

The men's Preseason Poll was topped by St. Olaf College (Minn.), with five first place votes and 277 points. St. Olaf edged out North Central College (Ill.), which claimed the #2 ranking with three first place votes and 275 points.

Williams College was third with 259 points, while the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was fourth with 250 points. Central College (Iowa) held fifth place in the poll with 249 points.

In the West Region women's rankings, Willamette was #1, while defending Regional champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) was ranked #2. Whitworth University was #3, with Whitman College at #4 and Occidental College (Calif.) at #5.

Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) of Willamette won the 2013 West Regional individual title. She placed eighth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.

Joining Willamette, Whitworth and Whitman in the Regional rankings from the Northwest Conference were Lewis & Clark College at #7 and Linfield College at #10.

The men's West Region rankings were topped by Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.), which won last year's Regional title. Occidental was listed a t#2, while Willamette was #3. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps held the #4 ranking and University of La Verne (Calif.) was #5.

Willamette was joined in the men's Regional rankings by NWC opponents Whitman at #6 and the University of Puget Sound at #9.

The Bearcats are set to open the season on Thursday, Sept. 11 in a meet hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage.