Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
 
OSHKOSH, Wisconsin – The Midwest Conference (MWC) continues to be well-represented in the Week 6 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings as published by the organization on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Both the Cornell College women’s and men’s programs earned spots in this week’s Midwest Region rankings, with the women’s team checking in at No. 7 and the men’s team at No. 8. Grinnell College (#5, Midwest Region) and Ripon College (#9, North Region) also appear in this week’s women’s rankings, while Lawrence University (#10, North Region) makes its debut in the men’s rankings.
 
On the women’s side, Cornell, Grinnell and Ripon make up eight of the top10 times in the league. Ripon holds the top two spots with Joley Berger (22:04.80) and Jenny Cortes (22:18.80), while Cornell boasts Lidia Dahlman (#3, 22:31.40) and Alyza Koppes (#10, 23:03.20). Grinnell’s Morgan Karow (#5, 22:37.82), Sindri Bonner (#7, 22:39.60), Hannah Roark (#8, 22:48.20) and Lizzie Drew (#9, 22:58.11) also made an appearance in this week’s MWC top10 honor roll.
 
On the men’s side, Cornell’s Isaac vanWestrienen was named the USTFCCCA National Men’s Athlete of the Week for Division III after winning the prestigious Interregional Invite at Augustana. His lifetime best 23:57.10 performance is over 40 seconds faster than the next-fastest time in the MWC this season, which belongs to his teammate Jake Bach. Lawrence boasts five of the top10 times in the league this season: Ryan Cassiday (#3, 24:53.00), Finn Lee (#4, 24:58.00), Zach Meyer (#6, 25:25.00), Nick Hansen (#7, 25:29.00) and Caleb Hardy (#9, 26:22.00).
 
All five squads have this upcoming weekend off before the MWC Championships on Saturday, November 1. This year’s championships are hosted by Cornell College at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.