COMPLETE MEET RESULTS
WINFIELD, Kan. – The No. 10-ranked Southern Oregon women's cross country team collected its third win in four outings with three individuals among the top-six on Saturday morning at the NAIA Mid-States Classic.
Runner-up Kayla Clayton led the women, and fourth-place Isaac Fernandez was the first finisher for the No. 16 Raider men as they took second of 17 in the team standings, coming up just two points short of No. 7 Oklahoma City.
Clayton, a senior from Salinas, Calif., ran 5,000 meters at the Kansas Veterans Home of Winfield in 18 minutes 34.99 seconds – finishing less than a second behind individual champion Ellie Dimond of William Woods (Mo.). Haylee Brodahl (18:47.58) was fifth in the 162-person field and Lauren Forster (18:49.26) was sixth.
Twelfth-place Alejandra Lopez (19:03.67) and 20th-place Maya Smith (19:40.85) rounded out the Raiders' scoring. No other team's last scorer finished better than 34th as SOU totaled 44 points to second-place William Woods' 105.
"The women were good but we still have some room for improvement," SOU coach
Grier Gatlin said. "We're definitely using our depth, which is good but we're still working on everyone firing well on the same day."
SOU's men accumulated 38 points and Oklahoma City had 36. The Raiders put all five of their scorers among the top-10 – and ahead of OCU's fourth – in the 182-person field, but first-place Abraham Chelangam (24:30.10) and third-place Shimales Abebe (25:16.73) dragged the Stars to the top of the standings.
Fernandez completed the 8K course in 25:30.82, pacing the Raiders for the second consecutive weekend. Frankie Maciel (25:42.64), Zackary Alexander (25:46.46), Logan Jones (25:50.93) and Lincoln Woodhouse (26:00.52) occupied the seven-through-10 spots on the leaderboard. SOU's first non-scorer, Jensen Salvatori (26:12.09), placed 13th.
"The men were good," Gatlin said. "Our depth, again, helped us. It was extremely windy so the marks were certainly not fast."
The Raiders have next week off before jumping into the postseason. They'll host the Cascade Conference Championships for the first time in 11 years on Nov. 4 at Colver Road Fields in Talent.
MEN'S TEAM SCORES (top-5 of 17) – 1. Oklahoma City 36, 2. Southern Oregon 38, 3. Kansas Wesleyan 146, 4. Newman 148, 5. Benedictine 179
SOU MEN'S 8K RESULTS (of 182 total entries)
4. Isaac Fernandez, 25:30.82
7. Frankie Maciel, 25:42.64
8. Zackary Alexander, 25:46.46
9. Logan Jones, 25:50.93
10. Lincoln Woodhouse, 26:00.52
13. Jensen Salvatori, 26:12.09
41. Luke Lucchesi, 27:39.46
56. Asher Tatsumi, 28:09.35
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES (top-5 of 16) – 1. Southern Oregon 44, 2. William Woods 105, 3. Oklahoma City 115, 4. Tabor 129, 5. Missouri Baptist 140
SOU WOMEN'S 5K RESULTS (of 162 total entries)
2. Kayla Clayton, 18:34.99
5. Haylee Brodahl, 18:47.58
6. Lauren Forster, 18:49.26
12. Alejandra Lopez, 19:03.67
20. Maya Smith, 19:40.85
26. Sydnee Kizziar, 20:00.09
41. Emma Baeth, 20:36.03
93. Gracie Freudenthal, 22:24.42