Friday, May 30, 2025 is the final chapter of the Multnomah Lions athletic department.  After 10 years in the NAIA and the CCC, our undergraduate school is officially ceasing operations and will not support athletic teams moving forward.  You can read more about that decision at multnomah.edu.

Since being acquired by Jessup University in late 2023, the Lions have accomplished so much in such a short time.  This could have not been accomplished without our wonderful staff who led our students through the most tumultuous time any student could ever experience in higher education.  

I want to thank my staff:

• Sarah Parker - Assistant AD/Senior Woman Leader who I think of as my professional equal and made our department hum on a day-to-day basis.
• Gary Akiyama - Head Men's Golf Coach who was a mentor that was always there to bounce ideas and strategies off of every day.
• Caitlin O'Donnell - Head Athletic Trainer who had to treat hundreds of athletes by herself and listen to all their stories but did so with integrity every day.
• Dalon Parker - Head Soccer Coach who grinded alongside me (best recruiter I've ever seen) since 2018 to make Multnomah work when it should not have.
• Ben Barber - Head XC/TF Coach who became my heir apparent and brought the perfect energy to elevate the program and our department.
• Tayo Gem - Head Men's Basketball Coach who led with conviction in the most difficult time directly after the January announcement to reach insane heights.
• Reid Takatsuka - Head Women's Basketball Coach who returned and proved he could still coach at a high level and brought expertise to all of us.
• Nerisa Laban - Head Volleyball Coach who took on the impossible task of being the fourth coach in four years and battled until the very end.
• Ben Larson - Sports Info Coordinator who elevated our website and socials to heights we had not experienced not just online but as a professional.
• The Assistant Coaches - Too many to name here but all of you impacted your program, your students, and this department each and every day and I'm eternally grateful to have had you be part of this journey.  

Department Accomplishments since Fall 2023:

• CCC Presidents' Cup status for academic excellence for both 2024 and 2025 with a department wide GPA of 3.25.
• NAIA Champions of Character - Silver Status for both 2024 and 2025 for carrying the Five Core Values of Integrity, Responsibility, Sportsmanship, Respect, and Servant Leadership.
• Improved CCC All-Sports point average by over 30 points.
• Improved NAIA Learfield Cup standings by over 50 places.
• Hosted the 2023 NAIA National Cross Country Championships at Fort Vancouver, Washington.
• Hosted the 2024 Cross Country CCC Championships at Rose City Golf Course in Portland.
• Hosted the 2025 Golf CCC Championships at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland.

Team Accomplishments since Fall 2023:

• Men's Track & Field finished T-15th in the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in May 2024 and is the best team finish of any sport in school history.  This was highlighted by 5th place finishes by the 4x100 and 4x400 relays along with several other All-American finishes.  They were 4th in the CCC Championships, also the best finish by any team sport in school history.  They swept the top 5 places in the 100m, the top 4 in the 200m, won the 400m, won the 4x100m, and won the 4x400m.
   
• Gabby Metzger was 1st Team All-CCC in Women's Cross Country and qualified for the National Cross Country Meet in November 2024.  She then qualified alongside her teammate, Analynne Klotz, to NAIA Outdoor Nationals in May 2025 in the 3000m Steeplechase.  Noa Miller qualified to the 2025 NAIA Indoor National meet and became an All-American in the 1000m run by finishing 6th.
   
• Men's Soccer qualified for the CCC Tournament in November 2024 for the first time in program history by finishing 8th.  Paul Einero was named 1st Team All-CCC, 2nd Team Academic All-American, and finished as the leading scorer in Multnomah's history.  Women's soccer finished 9th, its highest finish ever with two players named to 2nd Team All-CCC in Jennifer Alvillar and Annika Rahf.
   
• Lauren Porter graduated as the most decorated volleyball player in program history having been named All-CCC three times ('22, '23, '24) during her career.  She had 176 assists, 1,367 digs, and 100 service aces during her tenure.
   
• Savannah Huerta was 1st Team All-CCC for Women's Basketball in 2024 finishing 2nd in scoring and her sister Jersey Huerta was named Newcomer of the Year in 2025 while leading the CCC in scoring in 2025.
   
• Men's Basketball had its first winning season in the NAIA era and finished 7th in the CCC.  They became the first team to win a CCC Tournament game with an upset win on the road at nationally ranked Oregon Tech.  Noah McCord was named Newcomer of the Year and Keilan Tokornoo was also named 1st Team All-CCC.
   
• Jack Dalberg led the Men's Golf squad with a T-11th place individual finish at the CCC Championships.  Alden Fay finished T-18th in the regular season standings (4 tournament average).

There are so many other people to thank throughout this time but I wanted to highlight a few individuals below:

• Lois Vos - The Founder and AD (30 years of service!) who inspired the vision of what this could be and hired me as a head coach for some reason in a Shari's in 2017.
• Curt Bickley - The Head Men's Basketball Coach (20 years of service!) who helped all of us new college coaches catch up to speed.
• Tim Bieri - The Assistant AD and Women's Basketball Coach (13 years of service!) who was my anchor for so many years.  The best human.
• Collin Peterson & Ben Reeves - First two Athletic Trainers who took on our entire department by themselves.  Unreal workloads.
• Jason Patterson - Asst MBB Coach who helped recruit all over for many sports and our hallway chats were just the best.
• Mike Anderson - the AD after Vos who promoted me into admin and helped bring our competitive level up to match our CCC counterparts.
• Linsey Montgomery - Asst Track/SID/SWL who helped me navigate my first year in administration by being her calm self and great listener.
• Dave Lee - the founder of Multnomah Cross Country/Track who brought me on as an assistant coach in August 2015.  None of this is possible without you.

Thank you to Lance Von Vogt, VP of Athletics at Jessup down in Rocklin, for mentoring me throughout this time until the very end.  Your guidance and wisdom taught me so much and I'm extremely grateful to have studied under you.  Thank you to Multnomah and its leadership (Dr. Jessica Taylor, Lisa Newbore, Alin Vrancila, Joe Slavens, Karen Fancher) for believing in me and our department through the worst and best of times.  Even when you didn't fully understand the sports world!    Thank you to Rob Cashell, Commissioner of the CCC, for the support in basically everything!  Proud to have been members of this conference and the NAIA.  Thank you to all the staff and faculty who I got the pleasure of working alongside.  And thank you to the students, in particular my former runners and track athletes.  Doing this with you has been the greatest honor of my life.

Corey Mehl, Athletic Director