By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's cross country fell two spots to #35 in this week's NCAA Division III National Poll, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Bearcats remained #4 in the men's cross country West Region Rankings.

North Central College (Ill.) continued to lead the Men's National Poll with all eight first place votes and a perfect score of 280 points. SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) remained at #2 with 272 points. Johns Hopkins University (Md.) advanced two spots to #3 in the poll with 260 points. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse slipped one position to #4 with 255 points, while Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) advanced two positions to #5 at 249 points.

Following at #6 for the second week in a row was University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with 234 points. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) was #7 with 230 points after moving up from #14 a week ago. Amherst College (Mass.) also advanced seven spots to take #8 in the poll with 223 points. Haverford College (Pa.) stayed at #9 with 208 points, just one point in front of Loras College (Iowa) at #10 with 207 points. Loras was tied with Haverford for #9 last week.

The West Region had four teams in the West Region. Pomona-Pitzer led the way at #5, with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at #19, Occidental College (Calif.) at #22 and Willamette at #35.

Johns Hopkins stayed at #1 in the Women's National Poll with six of eight first place votes and 278 points. Washington University (Mo.) remained #2 with two first place votes and 273 points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Mass.) also maintained its spot at #3 with 265 points. SUNY Geneseo advanced one spot to #4 with 254 points, while Williams College (Mass.) fell one spot to #5 with 247 points.

In the West Region men's rankings, Pomona-Pitzer stayed at #1. In fact, the entire top 10 remained unchanged. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was #2, with Occidental at #3. Willamette at #4, and Lewis & Clark College in the #5 spot. University of California, Santa Cruz held at #6, while Whittier College (Calif.) was #7 and University of Redlands was #8. Whitworth University continued at #9 and Pacific Lutheran remained at #10.

The West Region women's rankings also did not change. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps kept control of the #1 position, while Whitworth stayed at #2 and Pomona-Pitzer kept the #3 spot. Occidental was #4 and Linfield College was #5. Redlands stayed at #6, with University of Puget Sound following at #7. George Fox University was listed at #8, with Whitman College at #9 and Whittier at #10.

This weekend, the Bearcats will host the 43rd Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Saturday Sept. 30 at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem, Oregon. The first of four races is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. (PDT).