By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's cross country team is ranked #6 in the West Region Preseason Rankings for NCAA Division III as released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Four of the Bearcats' top seven finishers at the 2018 Northwest Conference Championships are back after helping Willamette win the NWC women's team title for the 11th time since 2000.

Kyla Shade (Sr., Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) returns after earning First Team All-NWC honors with a sixth place finish at last year's NWC Championships. Audrey Piacsek (So., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS) placed 15th. Also running for WU at the NWC Championships were Jamie Smith (Sr., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) and Risa Shutz (Jr., Redmond, WA/Redmond HS).

Later, Willamette placed fifth at the 2018 West Region Championships. Shade received All-West Region honors with a 20th place finish. Piacsek completed the race in 38th place out of 125 runners.

In this year's West Region preseason women's rankings, Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) was listed at #1. Pomona-Pitzer placed second in the West Region last fall. Claremont-Mudd-Scrips (Calif.), which won the 2018 West Region title, was ranked #2 in this year's preseason rankings.

The preseason rankings continued with University of California, Santa Cruz at #3, Whitworth University at #4 and University of Redlands (Calif.) at #5. Willamette held the #6 ranking, with Occidental College (Calif.) at #7, Colorado College at #8, California Institute of Technology at #9 and Pacific University at #10.

Pomona-Pitzer also topped the West Region preseason men's rankings. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was second, with UC Santa Cruz in third, Occidental College in fourth and Redlands in fifth.

Willamette will open the 2019 season by running at the Ash Creek Invitational on Friday, Sept. 6. The meet will be held at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon, starting at 5 p.m. (PDT).