Leavenworth, Kan.— Spire Cross-Country opened the 2026 season with a bang on their home course in the annual Spire Sunset Showdown this evening, with both men and women taking the top spot.

For the Spire women, Serenity Desrosier Larson would easily claim first overall out of 66 athletes with a final time of 18:37.3 to kick off her senior season. Teammates Ava Klaassen and Norah Watkins would be close behind, coming in 7^th and 8^th place and posted strong times of 19:44.8 and 19:48.9, respectively.

Katie Cameron (20:03.2), Shelby Lingle (20:17.8), and Alina Arceo (20:20.4) would be the next USM athletes to cross the finish line, coming in 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th place. Mesa Casper would trail close behind in 16^th place with a final mark of 20:37.3. Rounding out the top 25 would be Lilly Richardson in 19^th overall with a 20:53.7 finish and Emma Cameron taking 25^th out of 66 with a final finish of 21:17.3 to start her season strong.

On the men's side, USM comfortably took control out of seven total competing teams. Sophomore Derebe Carr cruised to the finish, claiming first overall in the 8,000-meter race, with a time of 25:36. Six of the top ten finishers were Spires, as James White III took 4^th, and Austin Howell, Mohamed Elgossy, Landon Englert, and Brayden Marcotte followed close behind in 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, and 10^th, respectively. Out of 104 competitors, 11 of the USM runners finished in the top 25, setting the pace for a strong performance this season. 
 
For further results and team scores please visit http://results.tfmeetpro.com/bandbracekc/Spire_Sunset_Showdown/#event3. 
 
 
Coming Up…

The Spires will be on the move for the rest of the season starting with the Queen City Twilight meet in Springfield, Missouri. Hosted by the Evangel Valor, Queen City Twilight will be a night under the lights on Friday, September 11^th with the women headlining at 8:45 p.m. and the men shortly to follow at 9:15 p.m.