SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University's team in women's track and field remains #4 this week in the West Region rankings for NCAA Division III, as released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
As in last week's women's West Region rankings, the top six teams held their positions. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) is listed at #1 with 673.32 points. George Fox University is ranked #2 at 449.09, while Whitworth University is #3 at 414.49. Willamette is the #4 team with 356.91 points and Pomona-Pitzer is #5 at 258.63. University of Redlands is #6 at 245.55.
The Northwest Conference is represented by five women's teams in this week's rankings. In addition to George Fox at #2, Whitworth at #3 and Willamette at #4, the rankings also include Linfield College at #9 with 177.85 points and Pacific Lutheran University at #10 with 130.69. PLU moved into the poll, which dropped University of Puget Sound out of the top 10.
Leading the men's West Region rankings is Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with 516.88 points. Whitworth follows at #2 with 437.44 points. Redlands is #3 at 315.83, with George Fox at #4 with 307.60 and Occidental at #5 with 294.69.
The #1 team in the women's national rankings is University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 266.49 points, down from 283.87 last week. UW-La Crosse still holds a sizable lead over University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which stayed at #2 with 135.52 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology advanced from #4 to #3 with 116.40 points.
University of Wisconson-Oshkosh dropped from the #3 position to #4 with 104.38 points. Illinois Wesleyan University is #5 at 101.16.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is the top-ranked West Region team at #7 in the national rankings. Other nationally ranked teams from the West Region are California Lutheran University at #16 and George Fox at #20.
Team rankings are determined by assigning points to athletes ranked high on the national performance lists. Each team's score is the sum of its athletes point totals.
Ranked #1 in the men's national rankings is UW-La Crosse with 215.90 points. UW-Eau Claire remains #2 at 208.04 and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is listed at #3 with 113.73. Monmouth College (Illinois) jumped two spots up to #4 with 96.99 points. Salisbury University (Md.) slipped one spot to #5 at 86.14.
West Region men's teams in the national rankings are Whitworth at #18 and Redlands at #24.
The Bearcats will participate in two last chance meets this week. Willamette will compete in a pair of field events at the GFU NCAA Final Qualifier on Thursday, May 14 in Newberg, Oregon, and will run in two events at the Gregory Invitational on Friday, May 15 in Naperville, Illinois.
Hannah Bressler is ranked #21 in NCAA Division III in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. She is one of three Bearcats ranked in the top 25 in the event.
