RAIDER INVITATIONAL
Friday – 4 p.m. Field Events, 6 p.m. Track Events
Saturday – 10 a.m. Field Events, 12 p.m. Track Events
Complete Meet Schedule | Meet Program

ASHLAND – Four weeks before the Cascade Conference Championships return to Raider Stadium, the Southern Oregon University track and field team is set to host the third annual Raider Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

The third annual meet will feature athletes from Corban, Northwest Christian, Oregon Tech and Warner Pacific of the CCC; NCAA Division II school Humboldt State; and junior colleges Clark, Lane, Redwoods, Rogue, Siskiyous and Southwestern Oregon. Friday's field events begin at 4 p.m. and running starts at 6 p.m. with the 3,000-meter steeplechases, mile runs and 5,000 meters on the slate. Saturday's action begins at 10 a.m. with field disciplines, and the running events will pick up at noon. The final races – the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays – are scheduled for approximately 2:50 p.m.

Sprinters on the Move: Last weekend's outing at the Chico State Twilight/Invitational left SOU's men with five of the top six 100-meter times in the conference, and the Raider women are nearly as prominent on the updated CCC list. Matt East leads the way with a time of 10.56 seconds that made him an automatic qualifier for the NAIA Championships and put him just ahead of Eastern Oregon's Jebarri Cumberbatch (10.59). Behind Cumberbatch are four Raiders – Dwight Shaw (10.83), Cameron Bremner (10.85), Jeremiah Emershy (10.93) and Aidan Tank (10.93). In the 200, East (21.76), Bremner (21.92) and Cedric Quartey (22.31) rank second, third and fourth in the CCC, and Quartey also tops the 400 list (49.29).

Sophomore Rakayla Tyler and freshman Arianna Daniel are the current frontrunners in the women's sprints. Tyler is No. 1 (12.22) and Daniel is No. 2 (12.32) in the 100, while Daniel is first (25.60) and Tyler is second (25.66) in the 200 among all CCC runners. Daniel also tops the CCC in the 400 (58.22), which she is slated to run on Saturday.

SOU's sprinting dominance extends to the relays: The Raider men and women own the top times in both the 4x100 and the 4x400. In the former event, the women have already become NAIA auto qualifiers (47.93) and the men have a provisional qualifying mark (41.56). Both times rank eighth in the NAIA.

Perkinson Watch: After claiming the NAIA 10K outdoor title last season, junior Jessa Perkinson has turned her attention to the 1,500 and the 5K in 2017. She's already broken her own school records in both events this year – 4:32.58 in the former and 16:46.09 in the latter – and spent last weekend winning the 1,500 in Chico. Her 5K time is the fastest in the nation, and she'll attempt to improve it Saturday in a field that includes Northwest Christian All-American Sierra Brown, whose time of 17:07.81 is the third-best in the NAIA.

The Raider men also have a chance to improve their standing in the 5K, a race in which they had four of the top eight at last year's CCC meet. Connor Cushman (14:55.92) and Ray Schireman (14:44.72), whose personal bests are both faster than the conference's current top time, will run it for the first time this season. Cushman already has the No. 2 10K time in the NAIA (31:01.84).

USTFCCCA Rankings: Heading into the weekend, the Raider men are No. 4 and the women are No. 19 in the latest NAIA computer rankings, which are calculated based on how times recorded this season would score at the national meet. Along with Cushman, East and the 4x100 relay team, the men are benefitting from All-American Kevin Poteracke's No. 2 steeplechase mark (9:13.98); two decathletes – All-American sophomore Joseph Dotson (6,304) and freshman Dylan Castle (5,783) – who have the Nos. 1 and 5 scores on the NAIA list; and Zach Beltz, whose season-best long jump of 23 feet 10 ¼ inches ranks eighth. The women's standing is based on Perkinson's marks, the 4x100 relay team and Kayle Blackmore, whose 5K time of 17:20.66 ranks seventh. Blackmore is slated to run in the mile Friday.

Coming Up: The CCC Multi-Event Championships, hosted by Eastern Oregon, will be held April 20-21 at Hermiston High. Placers will earn points toward the CCC Championships, which will be held May 12-13 in Ashland. SOU will not be represented in the heptathlon, but Dotson and Castle will compete in the decathlon. Oregon Tech All-American Seth Gretz is the defending champion, and Dotson was last year's runner-up.

CASCADE CONFERENCE RANKINGS
% NAIA 'A' qualifying mark; ^ NAIA 'B' qualifying mark; * CCC Championships qualifying mark

SOU Men's Qualifying Marks
100m – 1. Matt East, 10.56%; 3. Dwight Shaw, 10.83*; 4. Cameron Bremner, 10.85*; 5. Jeremiah Emershy, 10.93*; 5. Aidan Tank, 10.93*; 8. Zac Hannan, 11.09*; 12. Eli Chapman, 11.21*
200m – 2. Matt East, 21.76*; 3. Cameron Bremner, 21.92*; 4. Cedric Quartey, 22.31; 9. Jeremiah Emershy, 22.74; 10. Eli Chapman, 22.80
400m – 1. Cedric Quartey, 49.29*
800m – 2. Gary Fanelli, 1:55.39
1,500m – 2. Noah Oberriter, 3:59.56; 4. Aidan Paulk, 3:59.57; 5. Ryan Alexander, 4:00.41; 8. Connor Cushman, 4:02.31
5,000m – 4. Noah Oberriter, 15:08.99
10,000m – 1. Connor Cushman, 31:01.84%; 3. Ray Schireman, 32:03.62*
110m Hurdles – 3. Dylan Castle, 15:37; 8. Joseph Dotson, 16.29*
400m Hurdles – 4. Zac Hannan, 56.97
3K Steeple – 2. Kevin Poteracke, 9:13.98%; 6. Ben Stevens, 9:44.96*
4x100m Relay – 1. SOU, 41.56^
4x400m Relay – 1. SOU, 3:19.74*
High Jump – 3. Dylan Castle, 6-2*; 7. Logan Moose, 5-10 ¾*; 11. Joseph Dotson, 5-9 ¼*
Long Jump – 1. Zach Beltz, 23-10 ¼%; 2. Dwight Shaw, 22-9 ¾*
Triple Jump – 3. Zach Beltz, 42-11 ¾*
Javelin – 12. Joseph Dotson, 155-10*; 13. Dylan Castle, 153-2*
Decathlon – 1. Joseph Dotson, 6,340^; 3. Dylan Castle, 5,783^
 
SOU Women's Qualifying Marks
100m – 1. Rakayla Tyler, 12.22*; 2. Arianna Daniel, 12.32*; 5. Margot Hamman, 12.74*; 7. Erika Soderstrom, 12.76*; 9. Savannah Greenwade, 12.85*
200m – 1. Arianna Daniel, 25.60*; 2. Rakayla Tyler, 25.66*; 8. Savannah Greenwade, 26.54*; 10. Margot Hamman, 26.75*
400m – 1. Arianna Daniel, 58.22*; 4. Savannah Greenwade, 59.80*
800m – 3. Aspen Abbott, 2:17.47*; 6. Jessa Perkinson, 2:19.50*; 7. Kayle Blackmore, 2:19.56*
1,500m – 1. Jessa Perkinson, 4:32.58%; 4. Kayle Blackmore, 4:43.27*; 11. Natalie Berania, 4:49.71*
5,000m – 1. Jessa Perkinson, 16:46.09%; 5. Kayle Blackmore, 17:20.66%; 13. Natalie Berania, 18:28.90*; 14. Ariana Toland, 18:29.47*; 16. Kimberly Nava, 18:56.22*
10,000m – 7. Kimberly Nava, 40:13.13*; 10. Stephanie Perea, 41:38.20*; 11. Emily Lamb, 41:49.43*
100m Hurdles – 2. Lauren McGowne, 15.44*; 12. Erika Soderstrom, 17.15*; 14. Madison Kansala, 17.41*
400m Hurdles – 9. Erika Soderstrom, 1:08.32*; 10. Hannah Schweighardt, 1:14.17*
3K Steeple – 4. Bree Weber, 11:32.79*; 9. Marisa D'Orfani, 11:59.27*; 11. Morgan Pfunder, 12:33.88*
4x100m Relay – 1. SOU, 47.93%
4x400m Relay – 1. SOU, 3:59.74*
Pole Vault – 7. Madison Kansala, 8-8 ¼*; 8. Theresa Frederick, 8-5 ½*
Long Jump – 1. Lauren McGowne, 17-11 ½*
Triple Jump – 9. Lauren McGowne, 33-0 ½*
Shot Put – 8. Hannah Lambert, 36-1 ½*
Discus – 5. Hannah Lambert, 125-6*
Hammer – 5. Hannah Lambert, 132-1*