Raiders women finish seventh in national meet
By Cliff Pfenning, oregonsports.com
VANCOUVER, Wash. – Southern Oregon University may be tucked away at the bottom of the state, but it finished atop the national field Saturday at the NAIA Cross Country championships at Fort Vancouver.
Powered by senior David Laney’s fourth-place finish, the top-ranked Raiders won the school’s first title in an NAIA sport by claiming the men’s cross country title with a deceptively narrow 105-124 win over Wayland Baptist University of San Antonio, Texas.
Laney, who ran at Portland’s Central Catholic High, topped the Raiders crew, which had five runners place in the top 43. Wayland Baptist’s No. 5 runner finished at 115.
The Raiders women finished seventh, leading the team to the combined program title. Coach Brent Erickson, in his third year, earned the national Coach of the Year Award.
“We felt like we had a good shot, and everyone performed well,” said Erickson, who guided the men’s team to third place last year. “It feels great to win, knowing how hard everyone has worked.”
The Raiders had three runners finish in the top 25 to earn All-American status. Laney finished the 8K course in 24 minutes, 57 seconds, while sophomore Zach Elliott finished in 25:18 for 13th place and junior Ryan Sorenson placed 22nd in 25:35.
Senior Dennis McCaffrey placed 33rd in 25:49 and junior James Johnstone was 43rd in 25:58.
Freshman Summer Cano led the women’s team, ranked No. 10 entering the meet, by placing 37th.
Concordia’s women, led by a 19th-place finish from Alice Taylor, placed eighth at the meet.
Individually, Eastern Oregon’s Karlee Coffey finished second – the highest a runner from the Cascade Conference has ever place in the women’s meet.
