Athletics
The Willamette University Bearcats compete at the NCAA Division III level. Willamette fields teams in baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, football, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Willamette is a founding member of the Northwest Conference league. The football team plays home games at McCulloch Stadium south of the main campus, while basketball, swimming, and volleyball teams use the Lestle J. Sparks Center for home events. At or adjacent to McCulloch are the Charles Bowles Track used for track meets and Roy S. "Spec" Keene Stadium where baseball plays its home games.
In 1991, the university started the Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1993, the school earned its only team sport national championship when the men's basketball team earned the NAIA Division 2 title. As an undergraduate, Olympian Nick Symmonds won the 800 NCAA championship race all four years and the 1,500 NCAA championship race as a freshman, junior, and senior. Symmonds later went on to place fifth in the 800 meter run at the 2012 Olympic Games. In 2007, Sarah Zerzan won the NCAA Division 3 title in cross country. The football team finished its best season in 1997 when they lost in the national championship game, and that year Liz Heaston became the first woman to ever play in a college football game when the Bearcats beat rival Linfield College.
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