Perkinson, Raider men triumph at Lewis & Clark Invite 10/14/2017 4:59:00 PM SOU Sports Information COMPLETE LEWIS & CLARK INVITE RESULTS ESTACADA – Three weeks away from the Cascade Conference meet, the Southern Oregon University men's cross country team continued to close in on its championship form Saturday morning with a win at the Lewis & Clark Invite. Raider senior Jessa Perkinson, meanwhile, left no doubts about her readiness for the stretch run after pulling a disappearing act on the rest of the women's field in a 21-second triumph. Against NCAA Division III competition at McIver Park, the Raider men – tied at No. 1 in this week's latest NAIA rankings – were pushed by Carleton (Minn.) but came on top by a 38-30 margin in the 11-team, 8,000-meter race. The next team in the standings, Lewis & Clark, was a distance third with 115 points. All five scorers for both Carleton and SOU finished among the top 13 in the 116-person field. Connor Cushman led the Raiders for the second time this season, placing third overall in 25 minutes 1 second. Ryan Alexander was fifth (25:05.0), Noah Oberriter sixth (25:06.1), Ray Schireman ninth (25:25.0) and Kevin Poteracke 11th (25:36.6). For Alexander, who missed SOU's most recent outing on Sept. 30 at Sacramento State due to illness, the time was a 36-second improvement over his only other race this season at University of Washington's Sundodger Invitational. The next five Raiders finished within 14 seconds of each other from 21st to 29th place: Kevin VanDyke (26:11.5, 21st), Alex Harbert (26:11.5, 22nd), Caleb Diaz (26:16.1, 25th), Ben Stevens (26:22.2, 27th) and Brandon Kelsey (26:24.9, 29th). SOU's women, down one spot to sixth in this week's NAIA rankings, competed without their No. 2, Kayle Blackmore, but managed to claim fifth of 12 in the team standings. That was in large part thanks to Perkinson, who completed the 6K course in 21:11.8 – easily clearing runner-up Kayla Leland of Whitworth's time of 21:32.3. Jenna Storms also gave the Raiders a boost: After improving her time by 29 seconds from SOU's first to its second race, she chopped another 42 off to finish in 23:09.3 for 25th place. Freshman Shayla Potratz finished next in 32nd (23:21.3), Bree Weber was 33rd (23:22.6) and Jamie Chelberg 38th (23:38.8) to round out SOU's 119 total points. Carleton, ranked 11th at the Div. III level, won the women's title with 38 points. The Raiders are slated to race again next Saturday at the William Jessup Warrior Invite in Rocklin, Calif. For the women, it'll be their first 5K – the standard NAIA Championship distance – of the season. SOU MEN'S 8K RESULTS (116 total entries) 3. Connor Cushman, 25:01.0 5. Ryan Alexander, 25:05.0 6. Noah Oberriter, 25:06.1 9. Ray Schireman, 25:25.0 11. Kevin Poteracke, 25:36.6 21. Kevin VanDyke, 26:11.5 22. Alex Harbert, 26:11.7 25. Caleb Diaz, 26:16.1 27. Ben Stevens, 26:22.2 29. Brandon Kelsey, 26:24.9 41. Aidan Paulk, 26:49.1 43. Gabe Loader, 26:53.7 80. Seth Campbell, 28:10.3 MEN'S TEAM SCORES – Southern Oregon 30, Carleton (Minn.) 38, Lewis & Clark 115, Pacific Lutheran 117, Whitworth 139, Colorado College 168, Whitman 195, Treasure Valley CC 206, Linfield 236, Puget Sound 259, Pacific 264 SOU WOMEN'S 6K RESULTS (128 total entries) 1. Jessa Perkinson, 21:11.8 25. Jenna Storms, 23:09.3 32. Shayla Potratz, 23:21.3 33. Bree Weber, 23:22.6 38. Jamie Chelberg, 23:38.8 68. Kim Nava, 24:51.8 79. Allex Bachtell, 25:09.8 97. Sydney Nunamaker, 26:10.8 105. Stephanie Perea, 26:26.1 WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES – Carleton (Minn.) 38, Whitworth 64, Linfield 106, Colorado College 111, Southern Oregon 119, Puget Sound 146, Pacific 214, Whitman 215, Lewis & Clark 223, Treasure Valley CC 237, Pacific Lutheran 277, OSU Running Club 393