COMPLETE SOU SCHEDULE (All times Pacific)
Thursday March 5
2:45 p.m. - Men's Distance Medley prelims (Hepner, Leslie, Blank, Stedman)

Friday March 6
10:45 a.m. - Women's 600m prelims (Pickett)

Saturday March 7
10:15 a.m. - Men's Pole Vault final (Le Bel)
10:25 a.m. - Women's 600m final (Pickett)
1:20 p.m. - Men's 5k final (Weisgerber)
2:00 p.m. Men's Distance Medley final (Hepner, Leslie, Blank, Stedman)

Live Results | Watch Live | Meet Program 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Southern Oregon track and field team is bringing seven athletes to compete in four events at the 2026 NAIA Indoor Championships, held March 5-7 at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center. 

The Raiders are headlined by two title seekers in three-time All-American Carson Le Bel and freshman Lilly Pickett, along with two distance entries looking to upset the top-end of the field.  

Below is a meet overview in order of events.

WOMEN'S EVENTS
600 Meters
Prelims: 10:45 a.m. Friday
Final: 10:25 a.m. Saturday
SOU Entry: Lilly Pickett (3rd of 25, 1:32.65)
Of Note: The women's 600 and 800 meter finals are separated by 55 minutes on Saturday, forcing Life University's top-ranked Emeline Delaville (1:29.52 for 600, 2:06.29 for 800) to choose between the two. She opted for the 800, which leaves the top-five entries of the 600 separated by less than a second. It looks like this: Alexandrea Clarke (St. Xavier, 1:32.36), Shelby Buwalda (Dordt, 1:32.51), Pickett (1:32.65), Olivia Lentz (Olivet Nazarene, 1:33.04), and Fien Molenberg (Friends, 1:33.21). 

Pickett ran the 600 for the first time back on Dec. 6, where she finished second overall at the Nevada Silver State Invitational and broke the facility record. Before then, she had never raced further than 400 meters on the track. This indoor season, she's also run the second fastest 200 (25.31) and 400 (56.05) times of her life.    

There are five preliminary heats, each with five runners. The winner of each heat, plus the next three fastest times, moves on to Saturday's final. Pickett is the top-seeded runner in heat four, followed by Autumn Nold (Evangel, 1:33.69), Tsitsi Karanda (Bismarck State, 1:34.72), Claire Lange (Marian, Ind., 1:35.47) and Lauren Hamilton (Madonna, 1:36.14). The Raiders have never had an All-American in the 600.

MEN'S EVENTS
4,000 Meter Distance Medley Relay
Prelims: 2:45 p.m. Thursday
Final: 2:00 p.m. Saturday
SOU Entry: Josh Hepner, Brodie Leslie, Gus Blank, Carter Stedman (11th of 22, 10:05.97)
Of Note: The Raiders were just two seconds off the NAIA 'A' standard when they won the DMR at the Whitworth Invite by a commanding 13 seconds. The same lineup will toe the line on Thursday: Hepner running 1200, Leslie 400, Blank 800, and Stedman anchoring the 1600-meter leg.  

Sandwiched in a deep field, they look to run considerably faster this time around. The win at the Podium in Spokane was spurred by Hepner blowing the doors open on the opening 1200-meter leg, forcing the Raiders to solo front-run the rest of the way. Hepner split 3:05.01, Leslie 49.50, Blank 1:56.85, and Stedman 4:14.62. 

There are two preliminary heats, both with 11 teams. The top three from each heat, plus the next four fastest times, move on to Saturday's final. The Raiders are seeded sixth in the second heat and join No. 2 Marian (Ind., 9:54.57) and No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan (9:54.67). Southern Oregon's DMR team won repeat titles in 2013 and 2014.  

Pole Vault
Final: 10:15 a.m. Saturday
SOU Entry: Carson Le Bel (T-2nd of 21, 4.90m/16-0 ¾)
Of Note: Le Bel returns to Gainesville seeking his fourth All-American honor and his first national title. He placed fourth at last year's Indoor Championships (4.85m) and followed it up by placing second (4.95m) at the Outdoor Championships. 

The senior set an indoor personal best of 4.90 meters and finished third at the Nevada Wolfpack Classic on Feb. 6. He's the No. 2 seed headed into Saturday's competition, along with three other competitors who've cleared 4.90 meters this season. Indiana Wesleyan's Ridge Willard is the top-seeded entry (5.05m), vaulting six inches higher than Le Bel this season. Willard isn't a lock to win, though; he's competing in the heptathlon beforehand. In head-to-head pole vaulting, Le Bel is 2-0 all-time against Willard. 

Along with Willard, Le Bel is joined by two other podium finishers from the 2025 Outdoor Championships in Taylor's (Ind.) Josh Forbes and Carroll's (Mont.) Tucker Monaco. The field will start to dwindle once the bar reaches 4.85 meters. 

5,000 Meters
Final: 1:20 p.m. Saturday
SOU Entry: Mason Weisgerber (9th of 20, 14:39.56)
Of Note: Due to a low number of entries, the 5,000-meter preliminary round was scratched, advancing all runners into Saturday's final. The same incident occurred at last year's Outdoor Championships, where Weisgerber placed eighth and earned his first All-America honor. 

Despite being seeded ninth, it's impossible to ignore that Weisgerber finished second a few months ago at the NAIA Cross Country Championships. He was beaten by Jack Anderson of The Master's, who went on to run the NAIA's fastest 5k this season (14:00.29) just two weeks later.  Anderson chose not to compete in the 5k this weekend, but Weisgerber still faces familiar and formidable runners in Corban's Jack Gladfelter (14:11.21) and Cumberlands' Luca Madeo (14:14.38). 

Weisgerber last raced Gladfelter on the track in the 2024 outdoor season, where he finished ahead of him in the Larry Byerly Invitational 5k. He also finished seven seconds in front of Madeo in last year's Outdoor Championships 5k final.