Southern Oregon's Jared Hixon has been named the CCC 2015-16 Red Lion Male Athlete of the Year.
Hixon, a senior from Palmdale, Calif., became the 13th NAIA outdoor national champion in SOU men's history with a win in the 1500 (3:52.73) after coming into the meet as the No. 7 seed. He was also named the men's track athlete of the meet at the CCC Championships with convincing wins in the 1500 (3:53.76) by 2.5 seconds and the 5K (14:30.42) by 15 seconds
On the NAIA lists, Hixon finished 9th in the 1500 (3:51.24) and 4th in the 5K (14:30.42) while during indoor season, he posted the No. 12 one-mile time (4:17.53) in his only outing.
In cross country, he helped SOU to its eighth straight team title with a sixth-place finish (26:08.8) to become All-CCC for the third year in a row.