­­­­­­­­­­­­­­CCC Decathlon Championship Results
Raider Invitational Day 1 Results

ASHLAND – Friday started with Joseph Dotson completing a torrid run through the decathlon and ended with Jessa Perkinson and Jared Hixon tacking onto their loaded résumés with wins and automatic NAIA Championship-qualifying marks in the 5,000 meters.

All told, the Southern Oregon University track and field team provided several highlights during an eventful day at Raider Stadium that marked the end of the Cascade Conference Multi-Event Championships and the beginning of the Raider Invitational.

But Dotson, a freshman from Florence, had more of those highlights than anyone with a second-place finish in the decathlon and 6,408 points – the third-highest total in the NAIA as of now. After putting up four personal bests out of Thursday's five disciplines, which put him in third place, Dotson registered three more in the second half of the meet Friday when he finished up with the 110-meter hurdles (16.31 seconds), the discus (112 feet, 4 inches), the pole vault (13-3), the javelin (154-8) and the 1,500 meters (4:39.91). He ended the day with a win in the 1,500 by over eight seconds, which catapulted him past Corban's Jason Bracken (6,360) for second place.

Oregon Tech's Seth Gretz won the decathlon with 6,541 points and Bracken finished third. Gretz's total stands as the second-best in the NAIA. Dotson, while moving just behind Gretz on the national list, accumulated the highest score for a Raider since 2010. His finish also gave the Raiders eight points toward their CCC Championships total.

Later on in the Raider Invitational – which starts up again at 10 a.m. Saturday – Perkinson ran the 5K for the first time this season in 17:12.31, demolishing Summer Cano's previous SOU-best mark of 17:25.28. Perkinson's best time last year was 18:10.16. She's also broken SOU's 10K record (36:14.72) this season by 21 seconds and is an auto qualifier in that and a provisional qualifier in the 1,500 (4:40.49). Her new 5K time ranks third on the NAIA list.

In the men's 5K, Hixon clocked 14:44.56 to get in just under the NAIA automatic-qualifying standard of 14:45, marking his second 'A' standard time of the season (he also has one in the 1,500) and the best 5K time of his career.

In the same race, Dylan Alexander returned from injury and raced for the first time since winning the NAIA 5K championship last season with a time of 14:47.68 to place second, take a provisional NAIA qualifying mark and go to No. 3 on the Cascade Conference list. SOU's Caleb Diaz took fifth (15:05.65), Ryan Alexander took sixth (15:08.17) and Noah Oberitter took seventh (15:17.59).

The Raiders also got a win out of Eli Stillman in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:50.87, while Ben Stevens placed third (10:15.64) and Donnie Coulson was fourth (10:22.73).

In the men's mile, SOU's Kevin Poteracke was third in 4:25.87.

Brian Sievers led the Raiders in the field with a second-place finish in the discus (138-0) and Steven Miskimens notched a third-place finish in the pole vault (12-5 ¼). For the women, Sydney Norvell made her collegiate pole-vault debut with a mark of 9-5 ¾ for third place and Cora Gallop claimed third in the triple jump (36-0).