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

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University women's track and field team is ranked #23 in the nation this week in the NCAA Division III Team Computer Rankings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). In addition, the WU women's team is ranked #6 in the West Region and the Bearcat men's team is ranked #4 in the West Region.

A select group of Bearcats will be in action tonight (May 14) at the Charles Bowles Track during the running events of the West Coast Invitational. The first race, the men's 110-meter hurdles, is set to get underway on the track at 7 p.m. (PDT). Action will conclude with a combined 10,000-meter run, which is slated to start at 9:55 p.m.

The heptathlon was held on Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12, with the field events also contested on Thursday.

The West Coast Invitational is co-hosted by Willamette and the University of Portland.

Listed at #1 in the women's NCAA Division III rankings was the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with 236.90 points. Wartburg College (Iowa) held the #2 spot with 185.64 points, while Williams College (Mass) was #3 with 147.37 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology was #4 at 133.55 and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) was #5 at 102.36.

McMurry University (Texas) remained the #1 team the men's rankings with 192.51 points. North Central College (Illinois) stayed at #2 with 158.26 points. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse was third at 147.88, with Wisconsin-Oshkosh in fourth at 134.00 and Augustana College (Ill.) in fifth at 111.13.

Leading the West Region women's rankings was Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. George Fox University followed at #2 with California Lutheran University ranked #3. The University of Redlands (Calif.) was #4, Whitworth University was #5 and Willamette held #6.

In the men's West Region rankings, Redlands was listed at #1. CMS was #2, with Whitworth at #3, Willamette at #4 and the University of La Verne (Calif.) at #5.

Willamette has eight track and field athletes who have achieved nine NCAA provisional qualifying marks and one NCAA automatic qualifying mark this season.

Leading the way is Kimber Mattox (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS/Cornell Univ.) from the women's team. She owns an automatic qualifying time of 10:23.34 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, plus provisional qualifying times of 4:32.47 in the 1,500-meter run and 17:10.28 in the 5,000-meter run.

Also holding a provisional qualifying mark for the Bearcat women's squad is Brandi Miller (Jr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) with a score of 4,406 in the heptathlon. She won the heptathlon at the West Coast Invitational earlier this week to boost her provisional score by 304 points from 4,102.

Athletes who have attained NCAA provisional marks for the Willamette men's team are Leo Castillo (Jr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS), Evin Colignon (Sr., Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy), Steven Collins (Zillah, WA/Zillah HS), Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS), David Oppat (Sr., Beaverton, OR/Southridge HS) and Stefan Redfield (Sr., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS).

Castillo earned his provisional mark with a time of 30:38.01 in the 10,000-meter run. Colignon achieved his qualifying mark in the decathlon with a top score of 6,419, while Collins registered a qualifying distance of 179' 3" in the hammer throw. Collins recorded his top distance at the West Coast Invitational on Thursday to improve on his previous provisional mark of 177'10".

Earlier this season, Donovan attained a provisional time of 9:16.48 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Oppat achieved a qualifying result in the shot put with a top throw of 53'3.75" and Redfield produced a qualifying mark with a time of 3:50.07 in the 1,500-meter run.