Des Moines, Iowa— A handful of Spires would hold their own at the Drake Relays this weekend at the historic Blue Oval on the campus of Drake University.

Jordyn Miller-Knuckles would nearly break the top 20, coming in at 21^st overall out of thirty competing athletes in the women's 100m hurdles event. Miller-Knuckles would notch a final time of 14.21 in Des Moines.

The USM women's 4x400 relay team consisting of national qualifiers Deslyne Cooper, Keiyah Cole, Hope Crabtree, and Haley Sampson would impress taking home 12^th place overall out of twenty-nine competing teams in the preliminary round. The Spire women were clocked at a final time of 3:49.40, beating their own previous school record of 3:51.25 from their outing in March, but would not make the final mark.

Tyler Holmes would shine again in the men's long jump. Holmes would come in impressively at 2^nd overall out of twenty-three athletes, only falling to Bush of Eastern Illinois. Tyler would finish with a final mark of 7.31m with the top finisher coming in at just 7.36m.

Indianola, Iowa—The Kip Janvrin Open would prove to be successful for the Spires as a host of USM athletes would take home top ten finishes and move up the ranks in the NAIA.

Omarion Udell brought home 5^th overall in the men's 110m hurdles with a blazing finish of 14.81 seconds out of thirty-two competing athletes.

Carly Holadia would add to her resume with a top ten finish in the women's 800m, bringing home 9^th place with a final time of 2:13.77. This time would move her up in the national rankings, putting Carly at No. 19 in all of NAIA.

Prince Ntozo would finish 4^th overall in the tough 3000m Steeplechase. Prince would earn himself a final time of 9:15.12 and is impressively now the No. 8 in all of NAIA. Teammates James White and Mohamed Elgossy would finish close behind, coming in 8^th and 10^th overall, respectively. White earned a 9:25.13 finish and move himself to the No. 22 spot nationally, while Elgossy finished at 9:27.40 to earn No. 23 in NAIA.

Abigail White battled it out in the women's 3000m Steeplechase. Abigail came in 7^th place overall with a final mark of 11:16.68 and earning the No. 15 spot in NAIA.

Josie Tyrrell finished big in the women's 5000m race. Tyrrell continues to add to her impressive senior resume with a 2^nd place finish and a final time of 17:12.82, moving her up the rankings to No. 10 in the nation.

Blaize Vaughn in the men's high jump would represent strong, earning 8^th place overall. The freshman recorded a high of 5-07.

In the women's high jump, freshman Maya Newcomer would jump her way to 4^th overall out of fifteen athletes with a final mark of 5-01.

Noah Arndt and Desmond Hudnall would place in the top slots for the Spire men in the long jump. Arndt took home 6^th overall with a final mark of 6.45m, while Hudnall secured 9^th overall with a 6.21m leap.

Senior Justin Johnston impressively finished 8^th overall in the men's pole vault with a final mark of 11-11.75.

The men's triple jump would see two Spires place 5^th and 6^th overall in Indianola. Juan Washington secured the 5^th place slot with a leap of 13.16m with USM teammate Courtney Anderson coming in 6^th with a mark of 12.86m.

Coming up, the Spires are set to compete on the KCAC big stage at the 2026 KCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted on the campus of the Friends University Falcons at Adair-Austin Stadium. The conference finals are slated for Thursday, April 30^th through Friday, May 1^st in Wichita.