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SOU ROUNDUP: Raider women win title, men take 2nd By SOU Sports Information Oct 22, 2022 09:28 PM A A 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.” Men’s Soccer SOU 1, CORBAN 0: At Salem, Southern Oregon dealt a major blow to No. 23-ranked Corban’s championship hopes with the upset, spoiling the Warriors’ senior day and defeating an NAIA Top 25 opponent for the first time since 2018. Sophomore forward Evan Norconk turned in the loan goal in the 78th minute, redirecting Bryan Millan’s cross for a big finish in the box. It was his fifth goal and third game-winner of the season. After a six-point weekend on the road, SOU (11-5 overall, 8-3 CCC) will be tied in fourth place with College of Idaho assuming the Yotes defeat last-place Walla Walla (Wash.) on Sunday. Of the three teams they trail in the standings, the Raiders have defeated two of them. They’ll get a shot at the other next Saturday, when first-place and undefeated Warner Pacific visits for the final weekend of the regular season. SOU keeper Anthony Armenta kept them off the board with six saves, his highest total yet in a shutout. The senior has turned in four consecutive clean sheets. Women’s Soccer SOU 1, CORBAN 0: At Salem, Sarah Mauk provided the only goal necessary and Southern Oregon remained stingy in a win at Corban, completing a Cascade Conference road sweep. The Raiders (8-4-3 overall, 7-1-2 CCC) stretched their program-record unbeaten streak to nine games and maintained their third-place standing with two regular-season matches left to play. Corban (10-3-3, 6-2-3) — which had an opportunity to swap spots with SOU on the conference table — became the fifth team with a winning record that the Raiders have taken points from during their streak. Mauk generated all three of SOU’s shots on goal, and she drove home the decisive one in the 54th minute. Defender Madison Childers triggered the action by pushing the ball down the sideline and centering it to Mia Santander, whose ensuing pass slipped to Mauk and drew out keeper Makida Herbert. Mauk touched it around her for the winner. The senior forward’s goal was her team-leading sixth of the season and fourth in SOU’s last five games.