WU Women Ranked 16th in National Preseason Poll

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, and Brandon Chinn, Athletics Communications Writer

SALEM, Ore. -- With the start of Willamette University's cross country season less than one week away, both the men's and women's teams are receiving high praise in the latest preseason national and regional polls.

Fresh off a 15th place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in 2014, the Bearcat women are projected as the 16th best team in the country according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III National Preseason Poll.

The Bearcats are one of two Northwest Conference representative rated in the top 35. Whitworth University's women are ranked #32.

Johns Hopkins University (Md.), the defending national champion in women's cross country, were picked to finish first with seven first place votes and 273 total points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- the only other team to receive a first place vote -- was ranked second with 273 points.

SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) was third in the poll with 264 points. St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) and Washington University (Mo.) were tied for fourth with 252 points.

Also ranked in the top 10 of the women's national poll were Middlebury College (Vt.) at #6 with 238 points, Williams College (Mass.) at #7 with 223 points, Calvin College (Mich.) at #8 with 213 points, Hope College (Mich.) at #9 with 210 points, and University of Chicago (Ill.) at #10 with 203 points.

Willamette's men's team did not place in the top 35 in the NCAA Division III Preseason Poll, but were among teams receiving votes.

North Central College (Ill.), the defending men's champion, was ranked #1 in the poll with all eigth first place votes and 280 points. St. Olaf College (Minn.) was listed at #2 with 270 points, while University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was #3 with 262 points.

Amherst College (Mass.) held the #3 spot at 251 points. Washington (Mo.) followed at #4 with 245 points, edging out St. Lawrence, which received 244 points and was ranked #5.

The Willamette women's team is ranked #2 in the West Region. Willamette's men are ranked #3 in the West Region.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) heads up the West Region women's rankings. After Willamette at #2, the rankings include Whitworth at #3, Colorado Colege at #4 and University of California, Santa Cruz at #5. Joining the Bearcats from the NWC are University of Puget Sound at #8, Whitman College at #9 and Linfield College at #10.

In the West Region men's rankings, Claremont-Mudd-Scripsps is #1, with Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) at #2 and Willamette at #3. Puget Sound is ranked #4 and Occidental College (Calif.) is listed at #5. Other NWC teams ranked in the West Region are Whitman College at #6, Whitworth at #7 and Lewis & Clark College at #8.

Willamette's first competition of the season is set for Friday, Sept. 11 at the Ash Creek Invitational hosted by Western Oregon University. Action in Monmouth, Oregon, is set to begin at 5:15 p.m.