ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon men's cross country officially reentered the title conversation and with good reason. They're running back a team that finished sixth at last year's NAIA Championships with added firepower. 

Last season's finish was almost out of the blue. The Raiders were only ranked 22nd in the preseason poll and in the two years prior, they failed to even qualify a team to the national meet after consecutive fifth-place finishes at the Cascade Conference Championships. But by November, they were the sixth-best team in the nation. 

Standout All-America performances from national runner-up Mason Weisgerber and 4th-place Carter Stedman spurred the effort. Together, the two tallied an unreal six points for SOU.  

That duo, along with the three other scorers from the national meet, return to the grass for the Raiders. The crucial addition of Andrew Rush, a junior transfer who finished second at the NWAC Championships, gives SOU a convincing argument for a podium finish. 

And for the first time in seven years, the Raiders are expected to win the CCC title, racking up 10 of the 12 first-place votes in the preseason poll. They came in ahead of No. 7 College of Idaho, No. 6 Corban, No. 10 Trinity Western (B.C.) and No. 13 Eastern Oregon. 

Last year, they placed second in the CCC team race with 89 points, ahead of College of Idaho (91) and Trinity Western (93). Eastern Oregon won the title with 71 points. 

"On paper, we have a really good team," said head coach Grier Gatlin. "We may hold one or two people out this weekend, but it will be good to put on a jersey and see how we compete." 

The Raiders start their fall campaign at the Simpson Invitational in Cottonwood, Calif. The men's 8K will begin at 9 a.m. before the women's 6K at 10 a.m. Other teams in attendance include Oregon Tech, Simpson and Shasta C.C. 

The Cascade Conference Championships will be held in Lewiston, Idaho, on Nov. 6 and the NAIA Championships will be at Fort Vancouver, Wash., for the fifth time in nine years on Nov. 20. 

Cumberlands (Ky.) is the top-ranked team ahead of No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan. 

Top Returners: Back for his fourth season, Mason Weisgerber is certainly a name that the NAIA has become familiar with. The senior is the highest-returning runner in the NAIA after his dramatic second-place finish (24:17.2), earning him his first cross country All-America honor. He picked up two more All-America honors throughout indoor and outdoor track, placing third in the 5,000-meter (14:18.07) at the Indoor Championships and fifth in the 10,000-meter (30:33.63) at the Outdoor Championships. 

Weisgerber posted new personal bests of 3:52.86 (1,500), 14:08.78 (5K) and became the first Raider in program history to break 30 minutes in the 10K, setting a new SOU record of 29:49.30. He ran an SOU No. 2 time over 8,000 meters at last year's Highlander Invitational, finishing in 23:49.40 just behind Carter Stedman's school record time of 23:47.90 in the same meet. 

Stedman is the NAIA's second-highest returner after placing fourth (24:33.50)  in his first national appearance for the Raiders. He also placed fourth (24:20.30) at the CCC Championships and eighth of 280 at the competitive Highlander Invite. In May, the senior placed fourth in the 5K with a personal best time of 14:27.28, earning his second overall All-America award.

Josh Hepner became an All-CCC performer as a freshman, placing seventh of 103 at the Cascade Conference Championships. He was SOU's third scorer in five of the six meets and was the second scorer at the Humboldt Invitational.  

Runners to Watch: A St. Ignatius, Mont. product, Andrew Rush spent a year at Montana State University Billings before transferring to Lane C.C. In his one season at Lane, Rush emerged as the NWAC cross country runner-up, finishing in 25:32.60. He placed 36th of 402 at the Linfield George Oja Invite with an 8K personal best of 24:46.40 and won the Bushnell Invite (25:28).

Last track season, Rush ran 3:51.92 for 1,500 at Oregon Twilight, 14:36.40 for 5K at the Pacific Northwest Invite and 30:41.46 for 10K at the Linfield Icebreaker Invitational. At the NWAC Championships, he was second (3:58.56) in the 1,500 and fourth (15:11.84) in the 5K. 

A handful of Raiders could be the fifth runner. As a freshman, Gus Blank was SOU's fourth scorer at both championship meets. Trenton Abraham was the fifth runner at the NAIA Championships and Logan Huffman was the fifth at the CCC Championships. 

Redshirt freshman Bjorn Austbo makes a case to break into the scoring lineup. The Ashland High graduate ran unattached and finished fourth in last spring's Raider 5K in 15:40.56, ahead of both Abraham (fifth, 15:47.21) and Huffman (sixth, 15:49.31). 

Southern Oregon's only other newcomer, freshman Carter Yates, enjoyed a successful senior year at Liberty High. He ran 15:58.30 for 5K and made massive improvements in the track season, dropping 30 seconds in the 1,500 (4:08.32) and 51 seconds in the 3K (8:49.72).