MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

RIVERSIDE, Calif. —  It's impossible to deny that the bar has been placed much higher in Southern Oregon after Carter Stedman, Mason Weisgerber, and Alyssa Johnson all surpassed program records at the Highland Invitational on Saturday morning. 

Stedman placed eighth, clearing the men's 8,000-meter course in 23 minutes 47.9 seconds (23:47.9) to well overtake the previous SOU 8K record of 24:02.5 set by two-time national champion and eventual Olympic Trials qualifier Eric Avila. Mason Weisgerber also eclipsed the former record, claiming ninth place to finish right behind Stedman in 23:49.4. 

Together, Stedman and Weisgerber are the first Raiders in program history to run 8,000 meters in less than 24 minutes. They've also run the third and fifth-fastest times in the NAIA this season. 

Johnson placed 22nd, finishing the women's 6,000-meter race with a time of 21:05.8 to best the 2017 Small College Female Athlete of the Year and national champion Jessa Perkinson's SOU 6K record of 21:11.5. It was a 36-second personal best for the junior from Veneta and the fifth fastest time in the nation.  

Josh Hepner finished third for the men and placed 57th with a personal best time of 24:40 to help the No. 9 Raiders to a 12th-place finish in the team standings amongst an NCAA Division I heavy field. Trenton Abraham was the fourth scorer, placing 136th in a personal best time of 25:45, and Gus Blank rounded out the scoring with an 184th-place finish (26:35). 

In her first 6K race as a Raider, Sophia Stubblefield placed 65th and moved to fifth on the SOU all-time 6K list by posting a personal best of 21:51.3. Freshman Alaina Casady finished third for SOU, placing 131st with a personal best time of 22:43. 

The No. 23-ranked Raiders placed 19th in the women's 6K with 481 points. Emily Picard (23:18) and Ashley Jentzsch (23:41) both set PBs and rounded out the team scoring by placing 175th and 192nd, respectively. 

"We had a long day of travel on Friday, and not sure that helped very much," said head coach Grier Gatlin. "We had some very good performances. Jentzsch ran amazing for the women, as did Sophie and Alyssa. Obviously,  Carter and Mason ran well, but Hayden [Roth] and Logan [Huffman] ended up getting pretty sick. They managed to finish, but they are for sure not 100%. Definitely cost us some time and points."

On the men's side, No. 1 The Master's (Calif.) finished fourth with 165 points, and No. 7 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) finished one spot ahead of the Raiders in 11th with 275 points. 

"Overall, we ran well, and this was a good confidence booster heading into the championship portion of the year," said Gatlin. 

The Raiders are set to compete at the Cascade Conference Championships at Oak Knoll Golf Course in Salem on Nov. 7. 

MEN'S TEAM SCORES — 1. Arizona 36, 2. Grand Canyon 140, 3. CBU 142, 4. No.1 The Master's (Calif.) 165, 5. UC San Diego 192, 6. CSUN 230, 7. Cal St. Fullerton 231, 8. Utah Tech 247, 9. Pepperdine 257, 10. Central Arizona 271, 11. No. 7 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 275, 12. No. 9 Southern Oregon 304, 13. Arizona State 348, 14. UC Riverside 388, 15. Redlands (Calif.) 436, … 

SOU MEN'S 8K RESULTS (of 285 total entries)
8. Carter Stedman, 23:47.9
9. Mason Weisgerber, 23:49.4
57. Josh Hepner, 24:40
136. Trenton Abraham, 25:45.9
184. Gus Blank, 26:35.9
186. Logan Huffman, 26:36.8
199. Hayden Roth, 26:45.4
238. Dominic Vaughn-Luma, 27:47.2

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES — 1. UC San Diego 37, 2. CBU 84, 3. Utah Tech 155, … , 16. No. 6 The Master's (Calif.) 419, 17. No. 4 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 436, 18. USC 473, 19. No. 23 Southern Oregon 481, 20. Pepperdine 505, … 

SOU WOMEN'S 6K RESULTS (of 261 total entries)
22. Alyssa Johnson, 21:05.8
65. Sophia Stubblefield, 21:51.3
131. Alaina Casady, 22:43.9
175. Emily Picard, 23:18.9
192. Ashley Jentzsch, 23:41.1
206. Mercedes Harms, 24:01.6
224. Kayla Gorchels, 24:30.5
232. Natalie Sandeen, 24:51.3
245. Izzie Calingasan, 26:08.3