Willamette University was founded in 1842 in what is now Salem, Oregon.[3] A small liberal arts school, it has an enrollment of 1,997 undergraduates and 564 graduate students for a total student population of 2,561.[4] Intercollegiate teams for the university are football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, women's volleyball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track & field and women's lacrosse.[5] In April 2018, the university announced the creation of the first women's varsity triathlon program in Oregon and ninth in NCAA Division III. The triathlon program will begin competition in 2021.[6]
On December 6, 1941, the team played the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, losing 20 to 6 in what was supposed to be the first of two post-season games.[9][10][11] The following day, December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the nearby naval base at Pearl Harbor, stranding the team on Hawaii.[10][11] The military pressed the team into service to defend the island from possible invasion by giving the players rifles, having them lay barbed wire, posting them to defend storage tanks above the city, and using them as police.[10][11][12] Willamette's team and boosters were able to leave aboard the ocean liner SS President Coolidge on December 19, and arrived in San Francisco on December 25.[10][11]
The Quad, former site of Sweetland Field
During World War II, the school played abbreviated schedules, and did not field a team in 1945, with a return to normalcy in 1946.[7] The school had previously not fielded teams in 1897 and 1898 due to the Spanish–American War and in 1918 due to World War I.[7] Willamette played their first game at the new McCulloch Stadium in 1950, beating Central Washington, 21–0.[7] Previously teams played at Sweetland Field, named after former athletic director and coach Dr. George Sweetland, located on campus where the school's Quad is situated south of Waller and Eaton halls.[13]
In October 1997, Liz Heaston became the first female player in a college football game, kicking two extra points in the game at McCulloch against Linfield.[14] The team was coached by future Boise State and Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, who led the team to a 40–11–1 record from 1993 to 1997.[7] In 2008, Willamette ended the regular season undefeated at 10–0 and winning a conference championship.[15] The team was ranked as high as fourth in Division III, and won first round playoff game.[15] The team lost in the second round of the playoffs to defending champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, 30–27, and finished the year 11–1.[16]
Willamette's team has won conference championships in the Northwest Conference 23 times, most recently during the 2008 season.[15][17] Other championships were in 1929, 1934 to 1938, 1940 to 1942, 1946, 1947, 1954, 1958 to 1960, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1995 to 1997, and 1999.[17] Willamette made the playoffs in 1968, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2008.[7][18] The 1997 team made the school's only appearance in a national championship, losing to 14–7 to the University of Findlay in the NAIA title game.[17][19] Willamette and the conference moved to the NCAA's Division II in 1998.[2] The university's overall record through the 2008 season is 472–374–38 and a .555 winning percentage.[7][16][20] Former head coach Ted Ogdahl holds the school records for most victories at 98 and for most seasons at the school with 20, compiling a 98–64–10 mark from 1952 to 1971.[7]Roy "Spec" Keene is in second place in both categories with an 84–51–6 record over 17 seasons from 1926 to 1942.[7]
Basketball
From 1923 until 1974 the basketball team played home games at the Willamette Gymnasium, now the Theatre Playhouse.[21] The men's team won or shared the conference title in 1949 to 1952, and 1958 to 1960.[22] The Bearcats appeared in the NAIADivision I men's basketball national tournament 3 times; 1960, 1972, 1975. The Bearcats lost in the first round each year. In 1993, the men's basketball team won the NAIA Division II national championship,[23] with coach Gordie James winning national coach of the year honors.[24]
Soccer
From 1987 to 1991, the Bearcat women won five straight NAIA District II titles.[25] In 1998, the women's soccer team compiled a 19–1–4 record and lost in the NCAA Division III national semifinal game.[26] The team finished 16–1–2 in 2003, but missed the playoffs after finishing in second place in the conference.[27] From 1997 to 2004 the women's team had a 74-game home unbeaten streak.[28] The women won conference championships from 1993 to 1999.[29]
Track and field
The men's track team won conference championships in 1951 to 1953, 1961, and 1966.[22] From 1981 to 1987 the men's track and field team won seven consecutive conference titles, coached by Charles Bowles.[24] Beth Fitzgerald won the 800m national championship in 1999, while Jimmy Watts won the title for the decathlon.[24] Race walker Olympian Andrew Hermann graduated from the university in 1993.[24] From 2002 to 2006, both the men's and the women's track teams won consecutive conference titles.[30] The men's team was led by multiple NCAA champion and later Olympic runner Nick Symmonds from 2003 to 2006.[30] The Bearcat women had last won a title in 1978.[31]
Other sports
Spec Keene Stadium
In 2002, the men's cross country team placed fifth at the Division III national championship after winning their second conference title in a row.[32] The women's cross country team had its highest finish in 2003, placing eighth at the Division III championship after winning a their second conference championship in 2002.[27][32] Men's golf won conference titles in 1999 and 2003.[33] The volleyball team won five straight conference championships from 1992 to 1996.[26] In 2006 and 2007, Sarah Zerzan won the NCAA Division III individual title in cross country.[34] The swimming program at the school started in 1974.[35] From 1978 to 1982 swimmer Steve Koga was an All-American four times after winning five national title.[36]
Softball was added at Willamette in 1981.[37] From 1985 to 1999, the softball team had a losing record each season except 1993.[38] In 2000, the team was ranked for the first time in the program's history.[38] That season the team opened its first home field, located next to the city's railroad station on land donated by the railroad.[37] Nikki Franchi became the school's first All-American in softball in 2008 while setting school records for strikeouts and wins in a season.[39]
The Bearcats baseball team's career leader in wins as a coach is David Wong with 286.[40] He coached the team for 13 seasons from 1991 to 2003 and earned a 286-220-3 record.[40] In 1950, 1953, 1955, 1969, 1986, 1998, and 2001 the baseball team won the Northwest Conference title.[22][41][42]
Willamette used to field a wrestling team.
Willamette had a women’s varsity rowing team which was disbanded in spring of 2016. This led to a lawsuit organized by twelve former athletes, Fawcett v. Willamette. Later settled in a TRO, it led to the addition of two women’s sports. [43]
Facilities
McCulloch Stadium
Both the track and fields teams and the football team host home events at McCulloch Stadium.[44] Built in 1950, it is two blocks south of the Willamette campus, with Salem Hospital in between.[7] Next to the stadium is Roy S. "Spec" Keene Stadium, home of the baseball team.[44] Completed in 1989, it includes batting cages.[44] Both stadiums are next to Salem's Bush's Pasture Park used by the cross country teams for their annual home meet.[44] The softball field is located south of the Tokyo International University of America campus on the east side of 13th Street.[44]
The Lestle J. Sparks Center is the main indoor facility for the school, and contains Cone Field House and Henkle Gymnasium.[44] Sparks was built in 1974 and expanded in 1995.[44] Home basketball games are held in Cone Field House, with swimming meets and volleyball matches also held at Sparks.[44] Sparks contains the offices for the athletic program as well as training facilities.[44] Adjacent to the building on the south is the soccer field, with the main tennis courts nearby.[44] The golf teams do not have practice facilities or venues on campus.[44]
Culture
The Bearcats official colors are cardinal and old gold.[3] Willamette's original colors of cardinal red and gold were selected in 1895.[24] Fight Bearcats Fight is the official fight song for the school, and Ode to Willamette is the university's Alma Mater.[45] Blitz is the current mascot, who replaced Barney the Bearcat.[46]
Willamette's official booster organization is the Willamette Bearcat Club.[47] The Willamette Athletic Hall of Fame was started in 1991 with 16 inductees.[48] As of 2008 the hall had inducted 67 former athletes, 9 coaches, 12 teams, and 10 others.[49]Linfield College to the north in McMinnville is Willamette's main rival. The Bearcats began facing the Wildcats in football in 1902.[50]
Willamette University is a private university in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Arts & Sciences and post-graduate schools of business and law. The university is a member of the NCAA's Division III Northwest Conference. Approximately 2,100 students are enrolled at Willamette between the graduate and undergraduate programs.
The Oregon Institute of Technology is a public polytechnic university in Oregon with a residential campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon, an urban campus in Wilsonville, Oregon, and additional locations in Salem and Seattle. Oregon Tech provides 32 degree programs in engineering, health technologies, management, communication, psychology, and applied sciences with a total of 37 majors. Almost all students complete externships, co-ops, or other hands-on training inside and outside the classroom.
Robert Morris University Illinois, formerly Robert Morris College, was a private university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1965 but its oldest ancestor was the Moser School founded in 1913. It changed its name to Robert Morris University Illinois in 2009. In 2020, it merged into Roosevelt University, which formed under it a new Robert Morris Experiential College as one of several colleges at Roosevelt. Robert Morris offered associate and bachelor's degrees and was regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Concordia University was a private Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) university in Portland, Oregon that closed in Spring 2020. One remaining program, the accelerated bachelor's degree, continues to operate under another Concordia University System school. Opened in 1905 as a University-preparatory school, the institution added college classes in 1950 and the high school formally split from the college in 1977. The school of approximately 5,400 undergraduate and graduate students was affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Concordia University System. Located in Northeast Portland, the school had branch campuses across Oregon and operated the Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho. The university had four colleges and eighteen majors. Its athletic teams, known as the Cavaliers, competed in NCAA's Great Northwest Athletic Conference at the Division II level.
Corban University is a private Christian university in Salem, Oregon. There are about 1,200 full-time students enrolled on the Salem campus and 2,800 worldwide. Athletically, it is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics competing in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
McCulloch Stadium is a 2,500-seat outdoor stadium in Salem, Oregon, United States. Built in 1950, the multi-use facility serves as home to Willamette University's football and track & field teams, and high school football games. Located in Bush's Pasture Park south of Willamette's campus, the stadium includes a grandstand, football field, and track.
Mark Joseph Speckman is an American gridiron football coach and former player. He is the assistant head coach and running backs coach at the University of California, Davis, a position he has held since 2017. Speckman served as the football head coach at Willamette University from 1998 to 2011 and at Menlo College in 2012. As coach of the Willamette Bearcats, he led his team to three playoff berths at the NCAA Division III level. He was the running backs coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 2013 and 2014 and the offensive coordinator at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin from 2015 to 2016. A California native, he was born without hands and played football at the college level. Speckman also works as a motivational speaker.
The Southwestern Moundbuilders are the athletic teams that represent Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. They are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), competing in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).
The Southern Oregon Raiders football team represents Southern Oregon University in the sport of American football. The Raiders team competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as an associate member of the Frontier Conference. Southern Oregon University has fielded an official football team since 1927 and has an all-time record of 349–351–15. The Raiders play in Raider Stadium in Ashland, Oregon, which has a capacity of 5,000. Southern Oregon has played in two NAIA national championship games and won thirteen conference championships in multiple conferences.
Charles J. ("Chuck") Bowles was a professor of physical education and human anatomy at Willamette University for twenty-five years. He was also Willamette's highly regarded cross-country and track and field coach. His teams won 20 Northwest Conference championships and 16 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 2 championships. During his time at Willamette, Bowles coached 160 individual conference champions and 50 All-American athletes. His men's cross-country teams won both conference and district titles five consecutive years between 1978 and 1982, and his men's track and field team won nine of ten conference championships between 1978 and 1987. Today, the largest cross-country meet in the Northwest is named in his honor, and one of the largest track and field events in the Pacific Northwest also bears his name.
The Sioux Falls Cougars are the athletic teams that represent the University of Sioux Falls. They currently compete in NCAA Division II after participating in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics through 2011. They were formally members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference from 2000 to 2011 and the South Dakota Interstate Conference (SDIC) until the year 2000. The university is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
The Western Oregon Wolves are the 13 varsity athletic teams that represent Western Oregon University, located in Monmouth, Oregon, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Wolves compete as members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
The 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game was a college football game between the Linfield Wildcats and the Willamette Bearcats played on October 18, 1997. The game was played at McCulloch Stadium in Salem, Oregon. Willamette won the game by a score of 27 to 0. During the game, Liz Heaston became the first woman to play and score in a college football game.
The Roanoke Maroons are the athletic teams that represent Roanoke College, located in Salem, Virginia, a suburban independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia.
The Lander Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent Lander University, located in Greenwood, South Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions.
The North Georgia Nighthawks are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Georgia, located in Dahlonega, Georgia, in intercollegiate sports. The Nighthawks compete in NCAA Division II as members of the Peach Belt Conference in 12 of their 13 varsity sports; with rifle competing in the Division I Southern Conference. All 13 intercollegiate programs are hosted on the university's Dahlonega campus.
George James Sweetland was a physician as well as a coach of many sports including basketball, track and field and football at several American universities.
The 1997 NAIA football season, as part of the 1997 college football season in the United States, was the 42nd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA. It was the first season after 27 season of the NAIA's two-division structure.
The 1901-02 Oregon Agricultural College men's basketball team was the first in the history of the school, known today as Oregon State University. The team sport was organized by W.O. "Dad" Trine, who was also the school's track coach.
The 1895 Willamette Bearcats football team represented Willamette University during the 1895 college football season. The team was a member of the Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association. The 1895 season was the school's second year of organized football and saw the squad finish with a record of 2 wins, 2 losses, and no ties.
1 2 3 4 McWilliams, Bill (2019). Scrimmage for War: A Story of Pearl Harbor, Football, and World War II. Guilford, Connecticut: Stackpole Books. ISBN9780811738675.
↑ Gault, Roy (January 13, 2002). "Willamette player scored first basket". Statesman Journal. pp.1B.
1 2 3 Gregg, Robert D. (1970). Chronicles of Willamette: Those Eventful Years of the President Smith Era. II. Salem, Oregon: Willamette University. p.109.
↑ English, Reid. "AD leaves large void to fill", Statesman Journal, November 1, 2000, p. 4B.
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