NEW ORLEANS, La. --- The Portland Pilots are currently the top 10k women's track team in the country, according to rankings released by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Each week the USTFCCCA releases a national ranking for each outdoor event that has had at least four athletes compete in that event during the season by an average score of the times.
 
Led by redshirt-senior Lauren LaRocco, who posted a time of 33:06.79 in the 10,000m at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season, the Pilots average time of 34:20.51 takes the top of the table. Also contributing are junior Aoibhe Richardson, who ran a 34:22.05 10k at the Mt. Sac Relays in early April, and seniors Becca Howard and Virag Weiler's times of 34:29.96 and 35:23.24, respectively,
 
"This is really exciting for our team, as we put a big emphasis on the distance events," said women's head coach Ian Solof. "It makes a huge difference to have someone at such a high level like Lauren leading the way for us but our next three have been really solid as well. We have had a lot of success with European athletes running the 10k and they have all been great to work with."
 
The Pilots will continue to push their times going into the end of regular season competition this weekend at the West Coast Invite, held at the campus of Willamette University on Saturday, May 11th.