MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

SALEM – After a three-week hiatus, the Southern Oregon cross country teams showed no signs of slowing down at the 50th Charles Bowles Willamette Invite on Saturday morning at Bush's Pasture Park. 

The 8,000-meter men's race showcased four of the top-18 teams in the NAIA coaches' poll and NCAA Division I teams. The No. 18 Raiders claimed sixth place of 30 in the standings with 213 points and a top-5 average time of 24 minutes 57 seconds. 

All-American Mason Weisgerber placed ninth and was one second shy of SOU's program record, running the 8K course in an outstanding time of 24:03. It was a 22-second personal best for the Wilsonville product and nearly two minutes faster than his last performance in Humboldt. 

Another low stick, Carter Stedman, placed 19th with a personal best time of 24:22 to help the Raiders surpass Cascade Conference opponents in No. 11 Trinity Western (B.C.) and No. 9 Corban in the team standings. Weisgerber's and Stedman's times are the fourth and 13th-fastest in the NAIA this year. 

Josh Hepner placed 38th with a time of 24:51 and became just the fourth freshman in Raider history to run under 25 minutes for 8K. SOU's fourth and fifth scorers were 92nd-place Hayden Roth (25:43) and 100th-place Trenton Abraham (25:48). Both of them set personal records, running under 26 minutes for the first time. 

In the women's 5,000-meter race, Alyssa Johnson placed 12th in 17:45 to lead the No. 20 Raiders to a 10th-place finish with 334 points. It was a two-second cross country 5K personal best for the junior from Veneta, and moved her to No. 2 all-time on the SOU cross country 5K list. It's also the ninth fastest time in the nation this year. 

Sophomore transfer Sophia Stubblefield made her Raider debut and placed 58th with a time of 18:41. Alaina Casady wasn't far behind, running a personal best of 18:47 to take 65th place. The women's fourth and fifth scorers were 130th-place Emily Picard (19:53) and 143rd-place Ashley Jentzsch (20:05). 

The SOU men's team time of 2:04:48 was the fastest since 2021. Embodying Grier Gatlin's typical strategy of patience, the team moved from 11th place at the one-mile split to sixth by the finish line. Weisgerber was in 59th-place and Stedman 55th at the mile marker. 

Led by Eliason Kabasenche (23:39), Portland won the men's 8K with 26 points. UC Santa Barbara won the women's 5K invite with 62 points, and Hawai'i's Lucy Milliner was the individual winner (16:45). 

The Raiders are back in California for the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational on Oct. 18 for their last competition of the regular season before the Cascade Conference Championships. 

MEN'S TEAM SCORES — 1. Portland 26, Idaho 94, 3. UC Santa Barbara 110, 4. No. 14 College of Idaho 131, 5. Nevada 210, 6. No. 18 Southern Oregon 213, 7. Eastern Oregon 263, 8. No. 11 Trinity Western (B.C.) 264, 9. Timberline AC 264, 10. Portland State 300, 11. Redlands (Calif.) 302, 12 No. 9 Corban 322, 13 Spokane CC (Wash.), … 

SOU MEN'S 8K RESULTS (of 336 total entries)
9. Mason Weisgerber, 24:03.5
19. Carter Stedman, 24:22.7
38. Josh Hepner, 24:51.4
92. Hayden Roth, 25:43.3
100. Trenton Abraham, 25:48.2
110. Gus Blank, 25:55.6
130. Logan Huffman, 26:18.6
234. Dominic Vaughn-Luma, 27:52.3

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES — 1. UC Santa Barbara 62, 2. Portland 90, 3. Hawai'i 94, 4. Idaho 108, 5. Nevada 122, 6. No. 8 College of Idaho 172, 7. Loyola Marymount 180, 8. Seattle U. 183, 9. No. 16 Eastern Oregon 287, 10. No. 20 Southern Oregon 334, 11. Oregon Tech 357, 12. Pacific 367, 13. Corban 394, 14. Portland State 408, … 

SOU WOMEN'S 5K RESULTS (of 285 total entries)
12. Alyssa Johnson, 17:45.2
58. Sophia Stubblefield, 18:41.3
65. Alaina Casady, 18:47
130. Emily Picard, 19:53.1
143. Ashley Jentzsch, 20:05.0
151. Mercedes Harms, 20:10.8
167. Kayla Gorchels, 20:35.6
195. Natalie Sandeen, 20:57.9