Warrensburg, Mo.— Spire T&F were out earning records and national standards again this weekend, splitting between the UCM Invite in Warrensburg, Missouri and the Butler CC Grizzly Gold Invite in El Dorado, Kansas.
At UCM, Ava Klaassen would strongly represent her squad in the women's 10K race. Ava brought home in an impressive 8^th place finish out of twenty-one competing athletes, with a final time of 38:25.28.

Spire distance runners continued to have a strong weekend in Warrensburg. Liv Lohf was dominant in the women's 1,500m run, coming in 2^nd place overall out of fifty-two athletes with a final time of 4:51.30.

Mesa Casper in the 5,000m run would add to her teammate's early success. Casper would bring home 11^th place overall out of thirty-two athletes, coming in at a final time of 19:40.59.

On the men's side, Kenneth Howell made his presence known at UCM, with a 5^th place finish in the 10K race. Howell finished the gutsy race with a final time of 32:08.43 out of twenty-six competitors. His teammates would also add to their teams strong outing. Junior Cody Ford would come in right behind at 6^th place with a final time of 32:13.71. Camden Bachman would round out the scoring in the 10K battle, coming in 8^th place overall for the Spires. Camden crossed the finish line with a final time of 32:43.54.

In the men's 3000 steeple chase invite, two Spire athletes would place in the top 10. James White would earn himself 6^th place overall out of thirteen athletes with a final mark of 9:36.81. Senior teammate Prince Ntozo would finish 9^th overall with a final mark of 9:40.83.

Zackary Zumwalt would find success in the men's 5K run. The freshman impressively finished in 1^st place overall out of forty-two fellow competitors, with an eye-catching time of 15:35.80.

In the women's 800m race, Carly Holadia would finish in 4^th place overall. The USM record holder would earn herself a final time of 2:20.76 out of sixteen competing athletes.

El Dorado, Kan.—While the Spire distance runners were giving it their all in Missouri, the rest of the USM squad was making a name for their team at the Grizzly Gold Invite in El Dorado. USM has a plethora of final marks, times, NAIA Standards, and new school records to be proud of.

Starting off strong is familiar names Deslyne Cooper and Haley Sampson, battling it out again in the women's 100m dash. Cooper would add to her impressive senior year resume with a 3^rd place finish in the sprint, coming in at a final mark of 11.97 seconds. Teammate Haley Sampson would be hot on her heels with a 4^th place finish and a mark of 12.01 seconds. Senior Keiyah Cole would round out the top 10 in this opening event. Cole came in 10^th overall with a final time of 12.46 seconds.

The women's 200m would tell an almost identical story. Deslyne would finish 2^nd overall out of thirty-five competitors with a speedy final mark of 24.84 seconds. Haley would come in 3^rd place overall, with a mark that doesn't get any closer zooming into the finish line at 24.92 seconds. Keiyah earned herself a 5^th place finish overall with a final mark of 25.45 seconds in the highly competitive race.

In the men's 200m dash, familiar face Karlos Humphreys would finish in the top 10 out of eighty-two competing athletes in the 200 sprint. Karlos would earn himself a 10^th place finish with a final mark of 21.53, just half a second off the USM Outdoor record of 21.03 held by McClain in 2018.

Karlos would again show his strengths in the men's 400m dash directly after. The sophomore and previous KCAC Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week finished 3^rd overall out of forty-nine athletes, with a final mark of 48.50 seconds.

Carly Holadia had herself a busy weekend. After competing at UCM on Friday, she made her way to El Dorado to gear up for yet another race on Saturday in the women's 1500m race at the Grizzly Gold Invite. All the travel would pay off for the junior as she would earn herself 3^rd place overall with a final mark of 4:44.55.

Jordyn Miller-Knuckles battled it out in the women's 100m hurdles, sprinting across the finish line in 2^nd place overall out of eighteen competitors with a final time of 14.17 seconds. This highly impressive final mark not only etched her name in the Spire record books, but earned her an NAIA B Standard immediately punching her ticket to the national meet in North Carolina next month. While this is already a huge accomplishment, her 14.17 mark also moved her up to #3 in the KCAC and #19 in all of NAIA.

Hope Crabtree would also finish in the top 5 in the 100m hurdles. Hope proudly took home 5^th overall with a final mark of 15.35 seconds.

Omarion Udell would finish big in the men's 110m hurdles this weekend. Udell, who has twice been named KCAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week this year, earned 2^nd place overall with a 14.77 second finish.

Hope Crabtree would again grit it out and earn herself 3^rd place in the women's 400m hurdles. Hope's top three finish came with a final mark of 1:06.79.

The USM women's 4x100 team consisting of Hope Crabtree, Deslyne Cooper, Haley Sampson, and Keiyah Cole ran away with a 1^st place finish at the Grizzly Gold Invite, zooming in with a final mark of 47.78 seconds.

Miller-Knuckles would add to her weekend with a 4^th place finish in the women's long jump. Jordyn would earn herself a final mark of 5.30m out of thirty-three competing athletes.

Tyler Holmes would continue to impress in the men's long jump. Holmes would not only easily earn a 1^st place finish, but also receive an outstanding NAIA "A" Standard making him #1 in the KCAC and #11 in all of NAIA. An impressive feat for the freshman jumper and USM record holder.

In the women's triple jump, the Spires would have two athletes place. Senior Carissa Martin would come in 4^th overall with a final mark of 10.30m while teammate Tamara Lopez would finish 6^th overall with a 9.58m mark.

Juan Washington would earn a 7^th place final out of thirteen athletes in the men's triple jump. Juan would come in with a final mark of 13.43m.

Freshman Emily Struckman would add to her impressive opening season with a 10^th place finish in the women's shot put out of twenty-nine competing athletes. Emily would earn her top 10 placement after a final mark of 11.29m.

Emily would continue her weekend with another strong showing in the women's hammer throw. Struckman would earn 9^th place overall out of thirty-eight athletes with a final mark of 46.18m.

Spire men's throwers Robert Hennig and Nolan Norberto would finish 5^th and 6^th overall, respectively, out of thirty-three competitors in the hammer throw. Hennig would earn his top 5 placement after a final mark of 47.42m. Norberto would be just right behind his teammate with a final heave of 47.16m.

In the women's javelin, dual sport athlete Keely Barnard would have one of her best outings of the outdoor season. Keely would earn herself a 3^rd place finish out of twenty-one athletes with a final mark of 40.20m. This impressive throw would rightfully earn her the newest USM school record, breaking her own previous record of 40.02m in the 2025 outdoor season. Keely is now ranked #3 in the KCAC and #28 in all of NAIA.

In the men's discus, Hennig and Norberto would again battle it out against thirty athletes in El Dorado. Robert Hennig would come in 7^th place overall with a final mark of 44.18m, while similarly Nolan Norberto would finish 8^th overall with a final mark of 43.24m.

Nolan would carry his success in the field into the men's shot put. He would finish in 8^th place overall with a final mark of 15.79m.

Maya Newcomer in the women's high jump would have a strong showing last weekend. The freshman would earn herself a 3^rd place finish at Butler with a final leap of 1.55m.

In the men's pole vault, Reed Lynn would finish strong tying for 4^th place with a final mark of 3.91m.