Defending eight-time conference champion George Fox University has been selected as the favorite to win the 2026 Northwest Conference Men’s Track & Field title in the annual preseason poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
The Bruins collected seven first-place votes and 63 points, finishing ahead of Whitworth University, which received two first-place votes and 58 points. George Fox enters the season after extending its conference-record streak with an eighth consecutive NWC championship in 2025.
Pacific Lutheran University was selected third with 43 points, followed closely by Willamette University in fourth with 41 points. Pacific University rounded out the top five with 35 points.
University of Puget Sound earned 29 points to place sixth, while Linfield University (24 points) and Lewis & Clark College (23 points) followed in seventh and eighth, respectively. Whitman College rounded out the poll with eight points.
The 2026 NWC Men’s Track & Field season will open its championship portion with the multi-events meet, hosted by George Fox on April 13–14. The conference championship meet is scheduled for April 25–26 at Whitworth.
|
Team
|
Pts.
|
2025 NWC Finish
|
|
George Fox (7)
|
63
|
1st
|
|
Whitworth (2)
|
58
|
2nd
|
|
Pacific Lutheran
|
43
|
4th
|
|
Willamette
|
41
|
3rd
|
|
Pacific
|
35
|
6th
|
|
Puget Sound
|
29
|
5th
|
|
Linfield
|
24
|
8th
|
|
Lewis & Clark
|
23
|
7th
|
| Whitman |
8 |
9th |
*Numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes.