Stevens wins CCC heptathlon title, Urquhart finishes all-conference in decathlon

The Southern Oregon track and field team boasted by far the most successful Saturday of the outdoor season, producing five NAIA Championship qualifying marks, six top SOU all-time marks, and nine wins across the Larry Byerly Invitational and Oregon Tech Invitational.

 Just 67 miles from Ashland at Moehl Stadium, Carson Le Bel became an automatic qualifier in pole vault and the first Raider in 20 years to clear five meters (16-04 ¾). It was a 5-inch personal best for the junior from Central Point and tied him for No. 2 on the Raiders’ all-time list. He’s only the fourth vaulter to clear five meters this year.

 Elsewhere, in Portland at Griswold Stadium, the Raider distance squad continued to rewrite the record book.

Frankie Maciel and Jalen Griego both notched the ‘B’ standard and became the fastest pair of teammates over 10,000 meters in Raider history. Maciel won with an SOU No. 2 time of 30 minutes 26.18 seconds (30:26.18), just under two seconds off of Eric Ghelfi’s school record of 30:24.63. Griego took third in 30:41.36 and moved to No. 5 on the Raiders’ all-time list. It’s a 41-second improvement from his 10k opener in San Francisco two weeks ago and an 18-second personal best.

 Maciel and Griego are the first Raider duo to earn a provisional mark for 10,000 meters in the same season since Noah Oberriter (30:38.76) and Ben Harter (31:06.07) achieved the feat in 2019 when the ‘A’ and ‘B’ standards were 31:16 and 31:45, respectively. They moved to No. 6 and No. 14 on the NAIA outdoor performance list.

 In the women’s 5,000-meter, Cammeo Ramirez snagged the ‘B’ standard, and Alyssa Johnson just missed out in runner-up and third-place finishes. Ramirez’s time of 17:18.59 is the second-fastest time in Raider history and the 17th best mark in the NAIA this year. Not far behind, Johnson finished in 17:23.32 and moved to fourth on the SOU all-time list.

The Raiders also took first-place finishes at Oregon Tech from Trey Lucas (200m, 22.41), Dylan Heath (400m, 50.84), Rogue Newton (400m hurdles, 56.93), Kobe Johnson (shot put, 14.75m), JaQuieze Holland (triple jump,12.57m) and the men’s 4×400-meter relay (3:20.72).

The Raiders are back in split-squad action at the Oregon State High Performance Meet and Linfield Open on May 2 and 3.

Stevens wins CCC heptathlon title, Urquhart finishes all-conference in decathlon

Abi Stevens filled one of the only remaining holes on her Southern Oregon University track and field résumé by becoming a Cascade Conference champion on Friday at Moehl Stadium in Klamath Falls.

Stevens led the women’s heptathlon from start to finish at the CCC Multi-Event Championships and the Raiders got an additional all-conference performance out of Coleton Urquhart, who finished third in the men’s decathlon for the second year in a row.

Stevens — the 13-time NAIA All-American who captured her first national title two months ago in the indoor pentathlon — accumulated 4,995 points, leaving a 224-point gap between herself and runner-up Adrienne Washington of Eastern Oregon. It was the second-highest score of her career, and to get it she only needed one personal best: a mark of 18 feet 7 ¼ inches in the long jump that put her at No. 15 on the national performance list.

The overall score is the best in the NAIA this season. It gave Stevens the ninth All-CCC honor of her career, though she’d never previously won a title. The senior from West Allis, Wis., posted the top score among the 10-person field in five of seven disciplines.

Urquart, a sophomore from Turner, finished with 6,019 points, going 121 over his previous high. He jumped from fourth place to third in the 1,500-meter finale, hitting the finish line second out of 12 competitors in 4 minutes 49.30 seconds.

After posting PRs in the 400 and high jump during Thursday’s action, he turned in another on Friday by throwing the javelin 138-7.

EOU’s Justin Krabbenhoft won the title with 6,623 points. Urquhart was 124 points back of EOU runner-up Tyler Jones.

The points scored by Stevens and Urquhart will go toward SOU’s team total at the CCC Championships, which take place May 9-10 in Ashland.