WU Cross Country teams Remain Nationally Ranked with Women 14th, Men 33rd

By Eric Spresser, Student Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- The latest NCAA Division III National Coaches' Polls released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) have Willamette University men's and women's teams ranked again. With this past weekend spent off from competition, the Bearcat women's squad held steady at #14, while the Willamette men's team slipped down one position to #33.

In this week's women's national rankings, Johns Hopkins University remained at #1 with 280 points and all eight first place votes. Williams College (Mass.) continued to be ranked #2 with 272 points and Tufts University (Mass.) stayed at #3 with 262 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology remained at #4 with 255 points and rounding out the top five was Washington University (Mo.) at 251.

The rest of the top 10 remained unchanged from last week, as SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) remained at #6 with 239 points and Middlebury College (Vt.) stayed at #7 with 232 points. Coming in at #8 was Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) with 223 points, and rounding out the top 10 were St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) at #9 with 214 points and Hope College (Mich.) at #10 with 205 points.

Willamette was one of two Northwest Conference teams this week in the women's top 35. Joining the Bearcats was Whitworth University, which advanced from #21 in last week's rankings to #18 this week.

At the top of the men's national rankings was the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the second straight week after receiving all eight first place votes and 280 points. Moving up from #4 in last week's rankings to the #2 spot this week was Amherst College (Mass.) with 266 points.

Slipping down one position each to #3 and #4, respectively, were North Central College (Ill.) with 264 points and St. Olaf College (Minn.) with 262 points. Washington University (Mo.) rounded out the top 5 with 248 points.

The rest of the men's top 10 remained unchanged from last week. SUNY Geneseo held steady at #6 with 236 points and Williams College was #7 at 231 points. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse stayed at #8 with 224 points, while Haverford College (Pa.) was #9 at 213 and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was #10 at 210.

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

Claremont-Mudd Scripps continued to hold the #1 position in the women's West Region rankings this week while Willamette was #2 with Whitworth at #3. Colorado College remained at #4 and University of Redlands (Calif.) was at #5. Other NWC teams appearing in the rankings were Whitman College at #8 and Linfield College at #9.

Ranked first in this weeks 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 held #5. Additional teams from the NWC were Whitworth at #7 and Linfield at #8.

The Bearcats ran well at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 4, and will look to continue their success this weekend as the Bearcats will compete at two meets on Saturday, Oct. 17. A group of Willamette runners will participate at the AAE Invitational in Winneconne, Wisconsin, while several other runners are entered 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 also be the site of the NCAA Division III National Championships, scheduled for Nov. 21.