CCC Qualifying Standards | NAIA Qualifying Standards 

ASHLAND —  If the results of this year's NAIA cross country and indoor track championships are any indication of the future, then a heavy dose of anticipation radiates from the Southern Oregon track and field team. 

Twenty new Raiders join the roster this year, along with 13 returners, three of whom earned All-America honors at last year's outdoor championships. Two of those returners, Carson Le Bel and Mason Weisgerber, just earned top-3 finishes at last week's indoor championships, and freshman Lilly Pickett already began making a name for herself with a fourth-place finish. And months prior on the grass, Weisgerber became the national runner-up, leading the men's cross country team to a sixth-place finish on the national stage. 

Of the 32 total Raiders on the team, 22 of them are sophomores or below. There are only two seniors on the men's side and just one on the women's. "We have a younger group that all enjoy the sport," said multi-events coach Joseph Dotson. "I'm excited to see their growth throughout the season." 

The Cascade Conference Championships are hosted by Eastern Oregon University for the third time in the past six years, while this year's national championships will be held in Asheville, North Carolina, for the first time. The qualifying standards for both meets can be found at the top of the preview.   

LAST SEASON
At the 2025 NAIA Outdoor National Championships, the Raider men and women produced four All-American performances apiece, including one national title and two runner-up finishes. At the Cascade Conference Championships, both men and women placed fifth in the team standings behind 12 total All-Cascade Conference finishes, with two of them being first-place efforts. 

FIRST UP
SOU competes on Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Chico State. Eight other teams will be in attendance, including Cal Poly Humboldt, UC Merced, and CSU Monterey Bay. 

WOMEN'S TEAM AT A GLANCE
Sprints
Lilly Pickett gained the attention of the NAIA after placing fourth in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:32.18 at the indoor championships last week, becoming just the second woman this decade to earn All-America honors for the Raiders at that meet. A graduate from Cascade High, she has an impressive high school resume that includes back-to-back Oregon 4A state championships in the 400 and three top-4 finishes in the 200. She won her second Oregon state title in a personal best time of 55.77, a performance that would be No. 3 on SOU's current Top-10 list.   

Distance
Alyssa Johnson earned her first and second All-America honors on the track last year after placing seventh in the 10k and eighth in the 5k at outdoor nationals. She followed that up in the fall by earning her fourth total All-American award and placing 10th at the NAIA Cross Country Championships, becoming just the second woman in SOU history to place that high. On the Raiders' Top-10 list, she's No. 2 for 10,000 meters (35:43.62), No. 3 for 5,000 (17:02.83), and No. 7 for 1,500 (4:43.27). 

Sophomore transfer Sophia Stubblefield ended her first season with SOU by placing 58th at cross country nationals as the Raiders' second scorer. She graduated from Phoenix High, where, as a senior, she won the 3k at the Oregon 4A State Championships. Her track PBs include 2:24.74 (800), 4:50.86 (1,500), 10:15.21 (3k), and 18:30.93 (5k). 

Freshmen Alaina Casady and Emily Picard placed 18th and 22nd at the CCC Cross Country Championships, respectively. Picard was crowned 1,500-meter champion at last year's Oregon 4A State Championships, winning in a personal best time of 4:46.57, and also placed fourth in the 3k. Casady earned a pair of top-10 finishes at the same meet, placing sixth in the 3k and ninth in the 1,500.   

Jumps
Last season, Katherine Martinez set a new program record and became just the second woman in SOU history to vault over 12 feet, by clearing 12-3 ½ to win the Linfield Invite. She qualified for her first NAIA national meet and finished three spots removed from All-American, placing 11th (11-5 ¾). She ended the year No. 10 on the NAIA performance list and picked up three wins. She competed twice this indoor season, clearing a season-best height of 11-5 ¾.  

Sydney Perkins placed fourth in pole vault at the 2025 Cascade Conference Championships with a mark of 11-3 ¾. She also won pole vault at the Nancy & Norm Berny Classic with a height of 11-9 ¾, moving to No. 5 on SOU's all-time list.  

Multi-Events
The Raiders brought in three new freshmen to oversee the multis-department. Gabby Morfin, a graduate from Cyprus High, already saw some competition this winter, posting a pentathlon personal best score of 2,959 points at the Nevada Wolfpack Classic. While at Cyprus, she won the 100m hurdles at the Utah 5A State Championships (14.91). 

Drew Hood won two javelin state titles while at North Bend High, finishing first in 2023 with a mark of 118-2 and in 2025 with a personal best throw of 133-9. She secured three other top-10 finishes as a senior at the state meet, placing fourth (15.57) in 100m hurdles, fifth (35-5 ¼) in triple jump, and 10th (15-11 ¾) in long jump.

Johanna Heil, a Lakeview High grad, placed second in javelin at the 2025 OSAA 3A State Track and Field Championships with a personal best throw of 123-0. She has multi experience, recording a heptathlon personal best score of 2,205 points at the 2025 Mondo Track Club Heptathlon.

MEN'S TEAM AT A GLANCE
Sprints
Trey Lucas placed fourth in the 4x400 meter relay at the 2025 Cascade Conference Championships (3:22) and competed in three other events, placing seventh in the 4x100 meter relay (42.51), 10th (49.52) in the 400, and 12th (22.64) in the 200. He set a personal best of 11.05 for 100 meters and 22.33 for 200 at the Chico Wildcat Invitational

Brodie Leslie, a South Medford High graduate, returns to the Rogue Valley after competing for two years at Clackamas Community College, where he anchored their men's second-place 4x100 meter relay team (42.50) at the 2024 NWAC Championships. This indoor season, he ran the 400-meter leg in the men's national qualifying distance medley relay, splitting 49.50 and 49.51 in both outings. 

Distance
The NAIA was put on notice after Mason Weisgerber seemingly shocked the field by finishing second and nearly winning cross country nationals in November. If that wasn't enough to convince you that he's a serious threat to win a national title at this year's outdoor nationals, he just finished third in the 5k at the indoor championships, improving upon an eighth-place finish at the previous spring's outdoor championships. Last season, he ran personal bests of 14:15.92 for 5k (SOU No. 3 time) and 3:56.77 for 1,500. 

Junior transfer Carter Stedman became an NAIA All-American in his first few months as a Raider by placing fourth at the NAIA Cross Country Championships. He competed at Northwest Nazarene from 2023-2025, where he ran personal bests of 3:53.43 (1,500), 14:41.94 (5k), and 30:55.85 (10k).   

Two freshmen from the Willamette Valley made an immediate impact this cross country season. Josh Hepner, a graduate from McDaniel High, placed seventh overall at the CCC Cross Country Championships, finishing as the top freshman in the circuit. Last spring, he produced 11th and eighth-place finishes in the 800 and 1,500 at the 6A State Championships. Hepner's personal bests include 1:54.6 (800), 3:54.15 (1,500), and 8:42.03 (3k). Gus Blank, a McMinnville High grad, earned a fourth-place finish in the 800 at last year's 6A state meet. He's recorded personal bests of 1:53.68 (800) and 3:54.38 (1,500), 

Jumps
Sophomore transfer Isaiah Sherman comes from Shasta Community College, where he spent two years. He's a graduate from Del Norte High, where he posted a pole vault personal best of 10-6.  

Four-time All-American Carson Le Bel is redshirting.

Multi-Events
Freshman Zak Weddell comes from Douglas High, where he ran the opening leg for their seventh-place 4x400 meter relay team at the NIAA 5A State Championships. He also competed at Nike Outdoor Nationals with the 4x400 relay squad. He's posted personal bests of 11.91 (100), 24.24 (200), 53.83 (400), 2:08.85 (800), and 5-6 (high jump). 

Coleton Urquhart, a two-time All-Cascade Conference performer in the decathlon, is redshirting.