By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University cross country teams are ranked in the West Region of NCAA Division III this week as released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Bearcat men's team is ranked #7 and the Willamette women's team is ranked #9.

Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) remained #1 in the West Region men's rankings, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) continued at #2 and University of California, Santa Cruz kept the #3 ranking. Also holding onto their positions were Occidental College at #4 and George Fox University at #5.

University of Redlands (Calif.) advance two spots to #6. Willamette dropped one spot to #7.

Pacific Lutheran University moved up one position to #8, although the Lutes finished just behind Willamette in the team standings at the UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13. The Bearcats took 33rd in the highly-competitive Men's 8k Pre-National Race, while the Lutes finished 34th.

This week's West Region men's rankings also included Colorado College and Whitworth University. Colorado College fell two spots from last week to #9 in the rankings, while Whitworth stayed at #10.

North Central College (Ill.) was ranked #1 in this week's NCAA Division III Men's National Poll with all eight first place votes and 280 points. Washington University (Mo.) was up four places to #2 with 272 points and Calvin College (Mich.) was up six places to #3 with 263 points. West Region teams in the men's top 35 were Pomona-Pitzer at #10, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at #23, and UC Santa Cruz at #35.

At the UW-Oshkosh meet this past weekend, Keith Carlson (Sr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) of Willamette placed 16th out of 344 runners with a time of 25:32.79. Michael Montague (Jr., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) from Willamette took 44th place at 26:01.55.

Pomona-Pitzer led the West Region women's rankings. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was #2, with UC Santa Cruz at #3. Occidental held the #4 position. Redlands was the first team with a new ranking this week, as the Bulldogs jumped from #10 to #5. Colorado College slipped one spot to #6, while Whitworth remained at #7.

Pacific University moved up one position to #8. Willamette dropped from #6 to #9 after competing in the Women's 6k Pre-National Open Race at the UW-Oshkosh meet, a race that did not have team scores. University of La Verne entered the rankings at #10.

In the NCAA Division III Women's National Poll, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) was #1 with 280 points on the strength of all eight first place votes. Washington University (Mo.) was #2 at 271 and the State University of New York at Geneseo was #3 at 261. All three of the tip teams retained their rankings form a week ago. Teams in the women's top 35 from the West Region were Pomona-Pitzer at #16, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and #19.

Hazel Carr (Sr., Seattle, WA/The Northwest School) of Willamette placed third out of 328 runners in the Women's 6K Pre-National Open Race during the UW-Oshkosh meet. She registered a time of 23:40.40. Maggie Chapin (Jr., Buffalo, WY/Buffalo HS) of WU placed 24th in 24:18.35, while Emily Evans (Sr., Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage HS) was 36th in 24:34.87.

Willamette will run again on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the 2018 Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships at McIver Park in Estacada, Oregon. The first race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (PDT).