Women are 14th, Men are 32nd, in NCAA Division III Cross Country Polls

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- Both Willamette University cross country teams are ranked in this week's NCAA Division III National Coaches' Polls as released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Willamette women's team advanced three spots and is ranked #14, while the Bearcat men's team moved into the rankings at #32.

In addition, both teams continued to be ranked in the West Region. The women team remained #2 in the West Region rankings, while the men's team held at #3.

In this week's women's national rankings, Johns Hopkins University remained #1 with all eight first place votes and 28-0 points. Williams College (Mass.) remained at #2 with 272 points. Tufts University (Mass.) advanced 10 spots from #13 all the way up to #3 at 263 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology fell one spot to #4 at 253. Washington University (Mo.) also slipped one position to #5 at 250.

SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) remained at #6 with 238 points. Middlebury College (Vt.) fell two spots to #7 with 236 points. Rounding out the top 10 were Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at #8 with 221 points, St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) at #9 with 211 points and Hope College (Mich.) at #10 with 206 points.

Willamette was one of two Northwest Conference teams this week in the women's top 35. Joining Willamette was Whitworth University, which improved from #33 a week ago to #21 this week.

At the top of the men's national rankings was the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which moved up six positions from a week ago to receive all eight first place votes and 280 points. North Central College (Ill.) dropped one spot to #2 with 267 points.

The next three teams also fell one position, with St. Olaf College (Minn.) at #3 with 265 points, Amherst College (Mass.) at #4 with 260 points and Washington University at #5 with 247 points.

SUNY Geneseo advanced two spots to #6 with 236 points. Williams dropped two positions and was #7 at 232 points. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse stayed at #8 with 222 points. Haverford College (Pa.) was #9 at 218 and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was #10 at 211.

Willamette ran well at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 4.

The WU women's team placed fifth out of 18 teams, trailing only Portland State University and University of Portland from NCAA Division I and Seattle Pacific University (Wash.) and Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.) from NCAA Division II. Olivia Mancl (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) took fourth place and moved into sixth on Willamette's all-time list at 17:47.9 over the 5-kilometer course. Taylor Ostrander (Sr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) was ninth at 18:06.4.

In the men's competition, the Bearcats earned second place behind Humboldt State University (Calif.) of NCAA Division II. Nathan Conrad (Sr., Bothell, WA/Bothell HS) led the Bearcats by finishing in third place on the 8-kilometer course at 25:05.1. Yonny Castillo (Sr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) was ninth at 25:17.9 and Patrick Loftus (So., Healdsburg, CA/Sonoma Academy) was 11th at 25:28.1.

This week's West Region women's rankings were topped by Claremont-Mudd Scripps. Willamette was #2 with Whitworth at #3 and Colorado College at #4. University of Redlands (Calif.) was #5. Other NWC teams were Whitman College at #8 and Linfield College at #9.

Ranked first in the men's West Region rankings was Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) was listed at #2, followed by Willamette at #3. University of Puget Sound was #4 and Whitman was #5. Additional teams from the NWC were Whitworth at #7 and Linfield at #8.

The Bearcats will compete at two meets on Saturday, Oct. 17. A group of Willamette runners will be entered at the AAE Invitational in Winneconne, Wisconsin, while several other runners will partiipate in the Lewis & Clark Invitational at Estacada, Oregon.

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is hosting the AAE Invitational, which is one of the largest NCAA Division III meets in the nation. It will be held at Lake Breeze Golf Course, which will be the site of the NCAA Division III National Championships, scheduled for Nov. 21.