Leavenworth, Kan.—

Friday:

The excitement from this weekend's Spire Distance Carnival and Spire Team Challenge may be winding down, but USM athletes—including three new record holders—are just warming up this outdoor season. Officially, the Spire men would place 2^nd overall as a team finishing with 100.5 points, just behind the Benedictine Raven men with 115.5 points. The USM women would finish 4^th overall, tallying 56 team points behind Ottawa (3^rd), Park University (2^nd) and Benedictine (1^st).

Now that the outdoor season has begun, there is no slowing down. The Spires will be on the road splitting between the Wash U Distance Carnival (St. Louis, Mo.) and the OBU Invite (Shawnee, Okla.) this weekend Friday March 27^th through Saturday the 28^th.

USM successfully put on one of the largest outdoor events of this early season, hosting college athletes from nearly every level. Fellow KCAC opponents the Bethany Swedes, Evangel University, Ottawa, Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes, Sterling College and McPherson College made their outdoor debut. Familiar members from the Heart of America Conference such as the Benedictine Ravens, Baker University, the Bellevue Bruins, Park University and Oklahoma Panhandle State from the SAC, Doane of the GPAC with Haskell out of the CAC joining the party. Division II Fort Hays State, Pittsburg State University, Northwest Missouri, Rockhurst, and KU Run Club sent athletes to Leavenworth as well as numerous competitors from Iowa Western CC, John Brown, Nebraska Wesleyan, and Neosho County.

Friday evening started off strong with the women's 3,000m kicking the weekend off at 7:00 p.m. and a night under the lights in Berkel Memorial. Abigail White would represent USM strong with a 2^nd place finish and a final time of 11:39.25, finishing just being Witt of NW Missouri. Katie Cameron would also come up big in the 3,000m, finishing 6^th overall with a 12:39.61 finish.

The Spire men would keep it rolling with Prince Ntozo finishing 3^rd in the 3,000 finishing behind athletes from Ft. Hays and John Brown, dashing to the finish for a final time of 9:41.51. James White and David Roberson Jr. would further bolster USM, finishing in 5^th and 9^th place respectively. White would have a final mark of 9:45.50 and Roberson Jr. posting a strong 10:21.18.

Carly Holadia would give USM their strongest finish of the night in the women's 800m race. Holadia made her mark with an impressive 1^st place finish and a final time of 2:14.80.

Cruising right along to the women's 1500m race. Josie Tyrrell would start her outdoor season strong with a 4^th place finish and a final time of 4:44.28. Teammate Liv Lohf would finish in the top 10, snagging 9^th place overall and a final mark of 4:52.25.

In the women's 5000m, three Spire runners would finish strong. Serenity Larson would take the highest placing of her team at 4^th overall with a final mark of 18:15.18. Josie Tyrrell would be just on her heels with a 6^th place finish and a time of 18:21.82. Ava Klaassen would round out the placing for USM with a 9^th place finish and a 18:28.29 mark.

In the women's javelin, Makayla Lockard would finish strong in 7^th place with a final heave of 32.51 meters. On the men's side, Justin Johnston and Dawson Troth would place for USM. Johnston would finish 4^th overall behind athletes from Benedictine and Haskell, with a final mark of 49.00m. Troth would be just behind at 6^th overall and a 46.60m mark.

Saturday:

Day two kicked off in the field with men's and women's shot-put marking the start of a full day under the sun. On the women's side, Emily Struckman impressively finished 6^th out of 19 throwers with a final heave of 11.40 meters, landing her at 3^rd overall in the KCAC in this event.

For the Spire men, teammates Nolan Norberto and Robert Hennig were neck and neck. Norberto would finish in 7^th overall with a throw of 13.53m with Hennig right behind him at 8^th place and a 12.82 mark.

This leads us right into men's and women's discus with Norberto and Hennig up again for USM. Nolan would have an even more impressive finish in the discus with a 2^nd place finish, only behind Gordon of McPherson College, with a final mark of 45.83 meters. Hennig placed in the top 10 taking home 8^th overall with a 41.50m mark.

Emily Struckman would again give it her all in the women's discus, earning an 8^th place finish out of 24 throwers with a final mark of 33.68m, placing her 6^th overall in all of KCAC.

KCAC Men's Indoor Long Jump Champion and national meet qualifier, Tyler Holmes, would have another terrific outing. Tyler would place 2^nd overall, just behind Thomas of Park University, with a final leap of 7.18 meters. This mark would not only break a USM school record—previously held by Anterreon McClain in 2019 (6.81 meters)—but earned him the #1 slot in the KCAC and #7 in all of NAIA men's long jump.

Noah Arndt and Tristian Rogers would also record strong finishes in the long jump placing 5^th and 6^th, respectively. Arndt would show a final mark of 6.88m and Rogers would be close behind with a 6.69m jump.

Haley Sampson would represent the Spire women in the long jump, snagging a 5^th place finish and an impressive leap at 5.40 meters.

Moving on to the men's pole vault, Reed Lynn and Dawson Troth would post strong marks for USM. Reed would finish in 4^th place overall with his highest mark being 4.05m (13-03.5) and Troth rounding out the top 10, finishing 9^th overall with a 3.20m (10-06.00) mark.

The men's and women's hammer throw would see a strong outing from the Spires. Jeremy Shreve shows the highest mark for USM, finishing 3^rd overall with a finish of 45.43 meters. Robert Hennig would continue with his successful opening meet with a 4^th place finish and a 44.75m mark.

On the women's side, Emily Struckman would post a strong 5^th place finish out of 22 athletes. Emily had a final mark of 41.79m, placing her #3 in the KCAC in the women's Hammer. Emma Murphy would also have a great showing in this event. Emma would place 8^th overall and show a final mark of 37.96 meters.

Juan Washington would have a great first outing in the men's triple jump, placing 3^rd overall. Washington had a great final mark at 13.59 meters.

On the women's side, Carissa Martin would bring home 9^th place overall and a final mark of 10.05 meters.

Wrapping up the field events for day two was the men's and women's high jump. Dawson Troth would earn himself a 4^th place finish with a final leap of 1.80m with teammate Blaize Vaughn taking home 9^th overall with a 1.70 final mark.

The Spire women would have a strong showing in the high jump. Maya Newcomer would place the highest for her squad, finishing 3^rd overall with a 1.55m mark, finishing just behind Smith of KWU and Barnett of Sterling. Marianna Boese would be hot on her heels in 5^th place with a 1.50m leap with Jaylynn Hunt rounding out the top 10 with a 1.35m finish.

Karlos Humphreys would kick start the running events in a huge way, dominating in the men's 400m. Karlos finished 1^st overall with a speedy finish of 48.14 seconds to start his outdoor season out on a high note.

In the women's 100m hurdles, Hope Crabtree and Makayla Lockard would have a strong start of their own. Hope would finish 6^th overall with a 15.29 mark with Lockard taking 9^th overall and a 19.92 finish.

USM would have four Spire athletes finish in the top 10 in the men's 110m hurdles, but none higher than Omarion Udell. Omarion would continue his success in the hurdles from his indoor season and bring that confidence into his outdoor campaign. Udell finished 1^st in the 110m hurdles yesterday afternoon, sprinting to the finish at a 14.61 mark, etching his name again in the Spire history books, breaking the previously held record by Elijah Cole in 2024 (14.90), and moving himself to the #1 spot in KCAC and #10 in all of NAIA.

Blaize Vaughn would finish 5^th overall in the 110 hurdles, finishing with a final mark of 15.37 seconds. Edward Dennis (16.21) and Logan Hammersmith (18.28) would round out the scoring for the Spires, coming in 9^th and 10^th place overall, respectively.

The women's 100m also saw four Spires scoring. Keiyah Cole would finish in 3^rd overall with a sprint to the finish at 12.02 seconds. Deslyne Cooper would be just on her heels for a photo finish earning her 4^th place and a 12.05 final mark. Haley Sampson would come in 6^th overall with a 12.26 mark and teammate Nyla Nelson would post a 12.47 second sprint and taking home 8^th place overall.

Noah Arndt, Tristian Rogers, and Daniel Craig would put the Spire men on the board in the men's 100-meter sprint. Arndt would lead his team in a 9^th place finish and a mark of 10.81 (10.805) it would be as close as it gets with teammate Tristian Rogers in 10^th place and an official time of 10.809 compared to Arndt. Daniel Craig would just miss the top 10, coming in at 11^th overall and a final time of 10.91.

Kylee Sipes would represent in the women's 400m hurdles. Kylee impressively came in 6^th overall with a final mark of 1:13.49.

The men's 400m hurdles saw fierce competition between the Spires. Blaize Vaugh would just edge out Udell for 6^th place and a tough 57.67 final mark. Omarion Udell would continue his reign in the hurdles, snagging 7^th place at a 57.77 finish. Edward Dennis would round it out for USM taking 9^th overall and a 58.50 second final mark.

And finally, the relays everyone eagerly awaits to mark the end of a fulfilling weekend was the men's and women's 4x400 meter relay. The Spire women made it well worth the wait. The relay team consisting of Deslyne Cooper, Keiyah Cole, Hope Crabtree, and Haley Sampson flew to a 1^st place finish with a final time of 3:51.25 and a long list of accomplishments to go along with it. This mark earns the team an NAIA B cut, automatically qualifying the relay for the NAIA Outdoor Meet in May in Asheville, North Carolina. Not only this, but the group proudly marks their name in the record books, easily breaking the 2024 record of 3:55.22 previously held by Carissa Martin, Gretchen Raney, Samantha Colson, and Lexi Wardlow. The women's 4x400 relay is now #1 in the KCAC and #2 in all of NAIA, and they're just getting started.

The Spire men's 4x400 completed the sweep of the relay, earning 1^st place overall and a 3:17.59 finish, taking the top slot by nearly 5 seconds. Todd Hicks, Tristian Rogers, Karlos Humphreys, and Daniel Craig made up the winning squad and are just seven seconds behind the all time USM men's 4x400m relay team from 2022. The Spires entered two relay teams with their second team consisting of Owen Dierenfeldt, Dean DaMask, Lukas Hein, and Jonah McGivern finishing 6^th overall in the gutsy race with a 3:28.88 finish.