Ashland, Neb.– Spire Cross Country hit the course this weekend on Saturday, October 24
th in Nebraska for the ultra-competitive Blazing Tiger Classic at Mahoney State Park.
USM dominated in both the men's and the women's races, with both squads bringing home 4
th overall. The men would take 4
th out of 27 teams with the women taking the same spot out of 28 teams.
Serenity Desrosier Larson would obviously make her presence known and give her team her all. The senior came in 2
nd overall out of the 335 competing athletes. Larson would mark a final time of 21:59 in the 6k.
Teammate
Ava Klaassen would be the next Spire up as she crossed the finish line in 18
th place overall with a 22:53.0 finish, just a mere second behind Picard of Southern Oregon.
Katie Cameron and
Mesa Casper would finish just behind one another with Cameron finishing 52
nd overall and a time of 23:49.0 while her counterpart Casper would grab 55
th place and a 23:52.7 mark.
Shelby Lingle would round out the top five USM finishers when she snagged 66
th place overall and a final mark of 24:05.9 finish in Nebraska.
On the men's side,
Derebe Carr would again lead his team, coming in 14
th overall and earning himself a 25:24.2 time out of the 412 competitors.
James White III and
Landon Englert would be neck and neck coming in at 27
th and 28
th place, respectively. It doesn't get any closer as White finished with a final time of 25:46.0 while Englert reported a 25:46.6 final mark.
Camden Bachman would be next up for the USM men, finishing 31
st overall and earning a final 25:51.3 finish.
Mohamed Elgossy would round out the top five Spires as he crossed the finish at 25:53.2, clenching a 36
th place finish for the sophomore.
A full list of the final results can be found at
Black Squirrel Timing.
Coming Up…
Postseason is upon us as the nationally ranked Spire men's and women's XC teams will take a brief pause and prepare to compete against the KCAC's best at the 2026 KCAC Cross-Country Championships hosted by the Evangel University Valor on Saturday, November 7. Races are slated to begin at 10 a.m. at the Allison Sports Town Complex in Springfield as a host of Spires have their sights set on the 2026 NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Washington.
