CORVALLIS/FOREST GROVE – Kevin Jorgensen zoomed to third place in the 1,500-meter invite-only race at Oregon State's High Performance meet, and Jared Hixon won a Raider-dominated 5,000 at the Pacific Twilight on Friday for Southern Oregon University.
Jorgensen was already one of SOU's four automatic NAIA Championships qualifiers in the 1,500 but improved his time by four seconds, finishing in 3 minutes, 48.29 seconds for the sixth-best time in the nation. He was 3 ½ seconds behind winner Brett Johnson of Oregon in a field of 26.
Markus Sanders was the other Raider to eclipse an 'A' standard, improving the one he already had in the hammer at Pacific with a throw of 182 feet, 1 inch for a second-place showing in a 22-person field.
The Raider men stole four of the top six spots among 40 people in the 5,000-meter race, led by Hixon in first (15:02.36) and Eric Ghelfi in second (15:03.85). Aaron Brenton placed fifth (15:19.75) and Connor Cushman sixth (15:23.30).
Elsewhere at Oregon State, Jonz Olander was sixth of 17 in the 400-meter race with a time of 48.29, less than a half-second short of winner Ben Ayesu-Attah of Idaho. Trevor Lynn place sixth in the steeplechase (9:32.69) and Cary Dunagan was seventh (9:32.99). Lynn and Dunagan were short of 'B' marks by about four seconds.
In the women's 800 invite, Aspen Abbott missed a 'B' standard by a little over a second by taking seventh of 16 in 2:17.33. Despite placing 24th in the 1,500-meter invite, Jessie Rozario was just off a 'B', too, with a time of 4:45.76.
At Pacific, Alexandra Rudd and Stephanie Ramirez qualified for next week's Cascade Conference Championships in the 10,000.
The Raiders will resume competition at Pacific on Saturday.
OSU HIGH PERFORMANCE
MEN
400m (17 entrants)
6. Jonz Olander, 48.59*
1500m Invite (26)
3. Kevin Jorgensen, 3:48.29^
3000m Steeplechase (13)
6. Trevor Lynn, 9:32.69*
7. Cary Dunagan, 9:32.99*
WOMEN
800m Invite (16)
7. Aspen Abbott, 2:17.33*
1500m Invite (27)
24. Jessie Rozario, 4:45.76*
PACIFIC TWILIGHT
MEN
5000m (40)
1. Jared Hixon, 15:02.36*
2. Eric Ghelfi, 15:03.85*
5. Aaron Brenton, 15:19.75*
6. Connor Cushman, 15:23.30*
16. Greg Garcia, 15:54.38
17. Will Parke-Hoffman, 15:57.28
21. Dylan Paulk, 16:07.23
24. Caleb Diaz, 16:16.27
Hammer (22)
2. Markus Sanders, 55.49m (182-01)^
Triple Jump (18)
5. Sam Hartinger, 13.53m (44-04.75)*
7. Anthony Neal, 13.19m (43-03.25)*
14. Lake Sain-Thomson, 12.08m (39-07.75)*
WOMEN
1500m (28)
9. Rebecca Lupescu, 5:00.85
5000m (20)
17. Atalie Frank, 20:45.34
18. Angie Meza, 21:05.67
10000m (mixed, 9)
7. Alexandra Rudd, 40:09.90*
9. Stephanie Ramirez, 40:51.12*
Hammer (34)
11. Holly Haga, 36.92m (121-01)*
24. Savannah Swan, 31.61m (103-08)*
26. Melino Gianotti, 30.49m (100-00)*
Triple Jump (16)
15. Anna Reitman, foul
^ NAIA 'A' qualifying mark
* Cascade Conference Championship mark