Leavenworth, Kan.—Spire XC had yet another dominate morning as USM hosted the 2025 Men's and Women's Cross-Country Championships today, November 8^th as both teams came away hugely successful as they proudly represented USM.

Kenneth Howell and fellow Spire teammates came away with first place in the conference meet out of 127 runners, with Howell himself coming in second place overall with a time of 25:00. Fellow teammates Derebe Carr (25:20), Jonah Godina (25:29), Kevin Nava (25:29), Brayden Marcotte (25:35), and Mohamed Elgossy (25:53) came in clutch for the Spires at 4th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 13th, and 16th place overall in the race. USM men earned themselves a thrilling first place finish in the 8K conference meet, narrowly beating the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes in an extremely close sprint to the finish line on a chilly Saturday morning in Leavenworth. 

The Spire men's and women's XC teams are now gearing up to face their biggest competition yet, the NAIA Cross-Country National Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday, November 21^st to decide the best of the best for the 2025 season.