CHARLES BOWLES INVITATIONAL
Bush's Pasture Park | Salem, Oregon
9:30 a.m. Saturday – Men's 8K | 10:20 a.m. – Women's 5K 

Live Results

ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon cross-country teams will have a healthy dose of competition on Saturday. They're competing against several NCAA Division I and nationally ranked Cascade Conference teams at the 51st Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem.

The men's 8,000-meter race features four NAIA Top-25 teams as the No. 2 Raiders look to hold off No. 5 College of Idaho and No. 8 Corban. In the women's 5K, the 18th-ranked Raiders will try to gain ground on No. 15 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and separate from No. 22 Eastern Oregon. 

Both fields are massive, with over 300 entrants in the 8K and 260 in the 5K between 32 collegiate teams, one club team and unattached runners. The men race at 9:30 a.m. and the women follow at 10:20 a.m. 

SOU MEN AT A GLANCE

Lineup (2025 Charles Bowles finishes in parentheses): Mason Weisgerber (9th, 24:03), Carter Stedman (19th, 24:22), Josh Hepner (37th, 24:51), Trenton Abraham (95th, 25:48), Gus Blank (105th, 25:55), Logan Huffman (125th, 26:18), Andrew Rush (38th, 24:55), Carter Yates, Bjorn Austbo

So Far: SOU breezed through the first third of the season's racing schedule without much opposition, winning both Simpson and PLU Invitationals. They produced individual winners in both outings, with junior Andrew Rush taking the first and senior Mason Weisgerber winning the latter.

Teams To Watch Out For: No. 5 College of Idaho, No. 8 Corban, No. 19 Northwest (Wash.), No. 25 Eastern Oregon, Fresno State, Portland, Nevada, Seattle U., Cal Poly Humboldt

Outlook: The Raiders will flex their top-end talent, hoping to stuff Weisgerber, Carter Stedman and Rush in the top-20. Topping the team standings isn't out of the question, but they'll need quality days from sophomores Josh Hepner, last year's 37th-place finisher, and Gus Blank, SOU's fifth runner this season.  

Individual Notes:

• Weisgerber will try to flirt with a podium finish after winning the PLU Invite by nearly 30 seconds while running his fastest 8K (24:19.3) ever in September. At last year's Charles Bowles Invite, he placed ninth in 24:03.5.

• Rush posted his third sub-25-minute 8K at the PLU Invite, finishing third in 24:53.1. He placed 38th in 24:55.9 at this invite last season while competing at Lane C.C.

• Stedman and Josh Hepner both set personal bests on this course a year ago, running 24:22.7 and 24:51.4, respectively. Stedman was fourth at PLU and Hepner came in 13th.  

SOU WOMEN AT A GLANCE

Lineup (2025 Charles Bowles finishes in parentheses): Alyssa Johnson (12th, 17:45), Emily Picard (129th, 19:53), Ashley Jentzsch (142nd, 20:05), Mercedes Harms (149th, 20:11), Kayla Gorchels (165th, 20:35), Izzie Calingasan, Ellieana Massey, Meadow Baxter

So Far: Alyssa Johnson led the Raiders to a win at the Simpson Invitational and a 6th-place finish at the PLU Invite. They were initially ranked 10th in the NAIA preseason ratings but have since fallen to 18th after marching through the first two races without freshman Ellieana Massey in the lineup. 

Teams To Watch Out For: No. 3 College of Idaho, No. 15 Lewis-Clark State, No. 21 Carroll (Mont.), No. 22 Eastern Oregon, Cal Poly Humboldt, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, Portland, Seattle U., St. Mary's (Calif.)

Outlook: Saturday's race will be the first and only 5K of the season for the Raiders. As a team, they hope to outperform expectations with Massey, a 19:02 5K runner, toeing the starting line. A high finish from Johnson, who placed 12th last year, would set the tone for SOU. 

Individual Notes

• Johnson placed third in 21:46.6 at the PLU 6K after winning the Simpson Invite. The senior's showed incredible consistency in the past year, finishing 23rd or higher in every race she's competed in, including the track season and NAIA Championships.

• Sophomore Emily Picard finished as SOU's second at the Simpson and PLU Invites, placing third and 38th overall, respectively. Last spring, she posted a 5K personal best of 18:15.16. 

• Mercedes Harms ran nearly 90 seconds faster for 6K at the PLU Invite than she did around the same date at last year's Humboldt Invite. She'll look to set a new cross country 5K best (19:34.7) on Saturday. 

• Freshman Meadow Baxter was SOU's third scorer at the PLU Invite, finishing the 6K in 24:11.8. She ran 19:10.7 for 5K while at Tigard High.