CASCADE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Running Y Ranch | Klamath Falls, Oregon
11 a.m. – Men's 8K | 12 p.m. – Women's 5K
LIVE RESULTS

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's and women's cross country teams will both bring legitimate title hopes to Friday's Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank, which will be hosted in Klamath Falls by Oregon Tech.

The men's 8,000-meter race begins at 11 a.m. and the women's 5K will follow at noon at the Running Y Resort. It'll be the Raiders' first appearance at the conference meet since 2019 after opting out of last season's modified circuit gathering in March, when Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) won the men's and College of Idaho captured the women's championship.

FORMAT: The top-15 placers in both races will be considered All-Cascade Conference (it was previously top-12), and the top-five finishers on each team contribute to their team's score. The winning team gets to bring seven runners and an alternate to the NAIA Championships on Nov. 19 in Vancouver, Washington; others will have to rely on an at-large bid, which a top-25 ranking in next week's final NAIA coaches' poll should ensure. The first four finishers on teams that don't advance to the NAIA Championships will get individual bids to the national meet as long as they finish among the top-15 overall.

SOU WOMEN AT A GLANCE
LINEUP: Brea Blankenship, Haylee Brodahl, Kayla Clayton, Lauren Forster, Gracie Freudenthal, Sydnee Kizziar, Alejandra Lopez, Maya Smith, Claire Tillett

NAIA RANKINGS: No. 6 College of Idaho, No. 13 Southern Oregon, No. 25 Northwest

HISTORY: The Raiders are vying for their first team championship and were knocking on the door when they last left off with back-to-back second-place finishes in 2018 and '19. They've produced one individual champ: Jessa Perkinson, who pulled off the feat in 2017. College of Idaho has come out on top two years in a row and Oregon Tech went back-to-back before that.

OUTLOOK: After being picked to finish fourth in the CCC and arriving at No. 18 in the NAIA preseason poll, the Raiders have emerged as a surprising threat to win the conference thanks to a steady top-five that has been headed by Kayla Clayton and Sydnee Kizziar in all four races. Clayton, in her debut season with the Raiders, led the team in its first three outings, including team victories at Humboldt State's Jim Hunt Invitational and Willamette's Charles Bowles Invitational and an individual win in the latter race. Kizziar, who led the team by placing seventh in their most recent outing at William Jessup, will be making her third appearance at the CCC Championships and became an all-conference performer in 2019 with a seventh-place effort. Maya Smith and Claire Tillett are the other Raiders back from the 2019 lineup. Smith has been among SOU's top-five every week, joined by freshman Lauren Forster and sophomores Haylee Brodahl and Alejandra Lopez. They got to see the CCC favorite, College of Idaho, at its best two weeks ago as the Yotes won the William Jessup Invite with 38 points and SOU was third with 77.

COACH'S QUOTE: "If we can fire on all cylinders on the same day then we'll be in good shape," SOU coach Grier Gatlin said. "We've had a good year, especially being such a young group, and I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond to being in these higher-pressure meets."

SOU MEN AT A GLANCE
LINEUP: Garrett Beutel, Isaac Fernandez, Alex Harbert-Castro, Luke Lucchesi, Jensen Salvatori, AJ Sandvig, Zeke Stelzer, Asher Tatsumi, Kevin VanDyke, Lincoln Woodhouse

NAIA RANKINGS: No. 8 Southern Oregon, No. 12 Lewis-Clark State, No. 14 College of Idaho, No. 15 Oregon Tech, No. 20 Eastern Oregon, No. 24 Northwest

HISTORY: The Raiders claimed the CCC title 10 years in a row before turning in consecutive second-place finishes in 2018 and '19 behind College of Idaho. Lewis-Clark State won last spring's championship without the Raiders in attendance in its first season as part of the circuit, having moved over from the Frontier Conference. Ray Schireman won SOU's last individual title in 2015.

OUTLOOK: Despite missing out on last season's modified festivities, the Raiders still boast the most battle-tested group in the conference: Alex Harbert-Castro and Kevin VanDyke are making their fourth appearances at the CCC meet, Isaac Fernandez is making his third, and Jensen Salvatori and Zeke Stelzer are both making their second. They've emerged as the favorite after being picked to finish third in the preseason and currently hold their highest NAIA ranking of the year. The loaded field features five other top-25 squads though, and the Raiders have yet to see the team directly behind them – No. 12 LC State, the defending champ and preseason favorite. Harbert-Castro and VanDyke both earned All-CCC status at the 2019 CCC Championships, placing 11th and 12th, while Stelzer, Salvatori and Fernandez were 22nd, 25th and 26th. Fernandez has taken a leap this fall in leading the Raiders three times, including their last race at the William Jessup Invite as they topped then-No. 6 The Master's (Calif.), No. 9 Oregon Tech and No. 12 C of I for the team win. VanDyke has been sharp after a big spring in which he won the CCC steeplechase title, was the CCC's 5K runner-up and became an NAIA steeplechase All-American. Stelzer, who just missed All-America status in the steeplechase during the spring, and Harbert-Castro have also been dependable top-four finishers for the Raiders.

COACH'S QUOTE: "As far as I can remember, this is the first time four or five teams have all had a shot to win it, so that's a little scary," SOU coach Grier Gatlin said. "It's a gauntlet and there isn't much margin for error for anyone. But we've run really well the last two meets and it's nice to have a lot of experience going into this."