Willamette University The Willamette Bearcats are the athletic teams of Willamette University in Salem , Oregon , United States . Competing at the non - scholarship National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division III level , the school fields twenty teams . Most teams compete in the Northwest Conference with their primary rivals being Linfield College . The main athletic venues of the school are McCulloch Stadium , Cone Field House , and Roy S . " Spec " Keene Stadium . Willamette moved to the NCAA ' s Division III in 1998 after previously being a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) institution . The 1993 , men ' s basketball team won the school ' s only team national championship , while the 1997 football team lost in the national championship game . Details . Willamette University was founded in 1842 in what is now Salem , Oregon . A small liberal arts school , it has an enrollment of 1 , 810 undergraduates and 659 graduate students for a total student population of 2 , 469 . 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 crew , men ’ s and women ’ s golf , men ’ s and women ’ s soccer , men ’ s and women ’ s cross country , and men ’ s and women ’ s track & field . Since October 2000 , Mark Majeski has overseen the twenty teams as Willamette ’ s athletic director . Bill Trenbeath had served in the role from 1988 to 2000 . Football . The Willamette football team started in 1894 , winning their first game against Pacific University 18 to 4 , and finishing the season 1 - 4 - 1 , losing four games and tying another against the Salem YMCA . In 1895 , they went 2 - 2 , including two losses to the University of Oregon and one win against what is now Oregon State University . During the early years of the program teams played a hodgepodge of other teams including games against the school ’ s alumni , the University of Oregon School of Law , the Chemawa Indian School , the Multnomah Athletic Club , Hill Military Academy , Reed College , Mt . Angel College , and the Vancouver Barracks among others . In 1926 , Willamette was a founding member of the Northwest Conference along with Pacific , rival Linfield College , Whitman College , the College of Puget Sound , and the College of Idaho , and is still a member of the conference . 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 . The following day , December 7 , 1941 , Japan attacked the nearby naval base at Pearl Harbor , stranding the team on Hawaii . 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 . 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 . During World War II , the school played abbreviated schedules , and did not field a team in 1945 , with a return to normalcy in 1946 . 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 . Willamette played their first game at the new McCulloch Stadium in 1950 , beating Central Washington 21 - 0 . Previously teams played at Sweetland Field located on campus where the school ’ s Quad is situated south of Waller and Eaton halls . 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 . 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 . In 2008 , Willamette ended the regular season undefeated at 10 - 0 and winning a conference championship . The team was ranked as high as fourth in Division III , and won first round playoff game . The team lost in the second round of the playoffs to defending champion Wisconsin - Whitewater 30 - 27 , and finished the year 11 - 1 . Willamette ’ s team has won conference championships in the Northwest Conference 23 times , most recently during the 2008 season . 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 . Willamette made the playoffs in 1968 , 1996 , 1997 , 1999 , 2004 , and 2008 . 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 . Willamette and the conference moved to the NCAA ’ s Division II in 1998 . The university ’ s overall record through the 2008 season is 472 - 374 - 38 and a . 555 winning percentage . 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 . Roy " Spec " Keene is in second place in both categories with an 84 - 51 - 6 record over 17 seasons from 1926 to 1942 . Basketball . From 1923 until 1974 the basketball team played home games at the Willamette Gymnasium , now the Theatre Playhouse . The men ' s team won or shared the conference title in 1949 to 1942 , and 1958 to 1960 . The Bearcats appeared in the NAIA Division 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 , with coach Gordie James winning national coach of the year honors . Soccer . From 1987 to 1991 , the Bearcat women won five straight NAIA District II titles . In 1998 , the women ’ s soccer team complied a 19 - 1 - 4 record and lost in the NCAA Division III national semifinal game . The team finished 16 - 1 - 2 in 2003 , but missed the playoffs after finishing in second place in the conference . From 1997 to 2004 the women ’ s team had a 74 game home unbeaten streak . The women won conference championships from 1993 to 1999 . Track and field . The men ' s track team won conference championships in 1951 to 1953 , 1961 , and 1966 . From 1981 to 1987 the men ’ s track and field team won seven consecutive conference titles , coached by Charles Bowles . Beth Fitzgerald won the 800m national championship in 1999 , while Jimmy Watts won the title for the decathlon . Race walker Olympian Andrew Hermann graduated from the university in 1993 . From 2002 to 2006 , both the men ’ s and the women ’ s track teams won consecutive conference titles . The men ’ s team was led by multiple NCAA champion and later Olympic runner Nick Symmonds from 2003 to 2006 . The Bearcat women had last won a title in 1978 . Other sports . 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 . 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 . Men ’ s golf won conference titles in 1999 and 2003 . The volleyball team won five straight conference championships from 1992 to 1996 . In 2006 and 2007 , Sarah Zerzan won the NCAA Division III individual title in cross country . The swimming program at the school started in 1974 . From 1978 to 1982 swimmer Steve Koga was an All - American four times after winning five national title . Softball was added at Willamette in 1981 . From 1985 to 1999 , the softball team had a losing record each season except 1993 . In 2000 , the team was ranked for the first time in the program ' s history . That season the team opened its first home field , located next to the city ' s railroad station on land donated by the railroad . Nikki Franchi became the school ' s first All - American in softball in 2008 while setting school records for strikeouts and wins in a season . The Bearcats baseball team ' s career leader in wins as a coach is David Wong with 286 . He coached the team for 13 seasons from 1991 to 2003 and earned a 286 - 220 - 3 record . In 1950 , 1953 , 1955 , 1969 , 1986 , 1998 , and 2001 the baseball team won the Northwest Conference title . Willamette used to field a wrestling team . Facilities . Both the track and fields teams and the football team host home events at McCulloch Stadium . Built in 1950 , it is two blocks south of the Willamette campus , with Salem Hospital in between . Next to the stadium is Roy S . " Spec " Keene Stadium , home of the baseball team . Completed in 1989 , it includes batting cages . Both stadiums are next to Salem ’ s Bush ' s Pasture Park used by the cross country teams for their annual home meet . The softball field is located south of the Tokyo International University of America campus on the east side of 13th Street . The Lestle J . Sparks Center is the main indoor facility for the school , and contains Cone Field House and Henkle Gymnasium . Sparks was built in 1974 and expanded in 1995 . Home basketball games are held in Cone Field House , with swimming meets and volleyball matches also held at Sparks . Sparks contains the offices for the athletic program as well as training facilities . Adjacent to the building on the south is the soccer field , with the main tennis courts nearby . Crew and golf teams do not have practice facilities or venues on campus . Culture . The Bearcats official colors are cardinal and old gold . Willamette ' s original colors of cardinal red and gold were selected in 1895 . Fight Bearcats Fight is the official fight song for the school , and Ode to Willamette is the university ’ s Alma Mater . Blitz is the current mascot , who replaced Barney the Bearcat . Willamette ’ s official booster organization is the Willamette Bearcat Club . The Willamette Athletic Hall of Fame was started in 1991 with 16 inductees . As of 2008 the hall had inducted 67 former athletes , 9 coaches , 12 teams , and 10 others . Linfield College to the north in McMinnville is Willamette ’ s main rival . The Bearcats began facing the Wildcats in football in 1902 .