Maya McFaddin

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's cross country team is #4 in the NCAA Division III West Region rankings this week after a solid performance at the Mike Hodges Invitational on Friday, Oct. 14. The WU women's team maintained their #5 spot this week. The rankings were released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA).

In addition, the Bearcat men's squad narrowly missed receiving a spot in the NCAA Division III National Poll conducted by the USTFCCCA. Willamette received 13 votes, but were four points short of making it into the Top 35.

The #1 team in the men's national poll was North Central College (Ill.), which received all eight of the first place votes and 280 points. Haverford College (Pa.) held the #2 overall ranking with 272 points. Washington University (Mo.) moved up two positions to claim the #3 position with 262 points.

Leading the men's West Region Rankings was Occidental (Calif.), which moved up three spots from last week. Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) and Claremont-Mudd-Scrips each dropped one ranking to move into the #2 and #3 spots. Willamette, which had three finishers in the top 10 during last weekend's race, moved to the #4 position. Whitworth University kept its spot at #5 this week.

Other men's teams from the Northwest Conference included in the Top 10 were Linfield College at #6, Lewis & Clark College at #8 and Whitman College at #9.

Williams College (Mass.) led the women's national poll with six of the eight first place votes and 278 points. Washington University (Mo.) improved to #2 with 266 points. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) moved up one place to tie for the #3 position with Middlebury College (Vt.) with 264 points.

The women's West Region Rankings were headed by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Lewis & Clark College was listed #2, while Whitman College was #3. Whittier College (Calif.) was ranked #4 and Willamette followed at #5. The NWC made a strong presence in the women's rankings with Linfield at #6 and Whitworth at #8.

Willamette will compete at the Northwest Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Willamette Mission in Wheatland, Ore. The first race is set for 10 a.m. (PDT).