Wichita, Kan.— Day one of the KCAC Championships saw the Spire men and women setting the tone. In the first afternoon of competition alone, USM crowned five KCAC Champions in Tyler Holmes, Keely Barnard, Abigail White, Prince Ntozo, and Josie Tyrrell.

The Spire women are currently leading the conference leader board as a team with 71 total points. The next closest women's squad, KWU, sits at 47 total points. Similarly, the USM men are dominating the team totals, coming in at the top through day one with 74 total team points. The next closest men's team is the Evangel Valor with 49.5 team points. Check in on the men's and women's team totals here.

The day started with the men's Hammer Throw there three Spires would place in the top ten. Robert Hennig would lead his crew with a 6^th place finish and a final mark of 47.31m, earning the USM men's team three points. Nolan Norberto and Jeremy Shreve would place 8^th and 10^th overall, respectively. Norberto would earn his team one point with his strong 8^th place finish and final mark of 46.79m. Shreve would round out the top placements with a final mark of 43.04m in Wichita.

On the women's side, freshman Emily Struckman would battle it out for the top spot against Green of Friends University. Struckman would bring home a 2^nd place finish in her first outing at the conference championships, earning the Spire women eight team points with her final mark of 46.46m. Sophomore Emma Murphy would also represent her squad with an impressive 5^th place finish. Murphy would earn her team an additional four points with her heave of 43.30m.

This might feel like déjà vu, but freshman phenom Tyler Holmes was rightfully named KCAC Champion in the men's long jump, claiming his second career KCAC title in his opening debut in collegiate T&F. Tyler would not only claim the crown, but would also break his own previous school record and furthest mark with a final jump of 7.48m, a National "A" Standard in his event. Holmes would also earn his team an additional ten points to the tally.

Fellow freshman Noah Arndt would round out the top ten in the men's long jump, bringing home 10^th place at the conference finals. Arndt posted his longest leap at 6.49m.

Jordyn Miller-Knuckles battled it out yesterday in the women's long jump, earning her squad an additional four team points in her efforts. Miller-Knuckles will bring home 5^th overall out of the twenty-four competing athletes with a final mark of 5.43m.

Freshman women's high jumper, Maya Newcomer, would make her debut at the KCAC finals yesterday as well. Newcomer would earn her team one point in the HJ, bringing home 8^th place overall and a strong 5-0.75 final jump.

On the men's side, Justin Johnston would finish in the top ten. Johnston would record his highest jump of 5-10 in the final rounds in Wichita.

Two Spire men would place in the top spots in the javelin, with Dawson Troth bringing in an additional three team points for his squad. Troth earned 6^th overall out of the nineteen KCAC throwers, with a mark of 52.59m.

Reed Lynn finished strong at 10^th overall in Wichita. The freshman notched a final throw of 46.61m.

Junior dual sport athlete, Keely Barnard, translated her basketball to success to the field. Keely proudly earned KCAC Champion in the women's javelin yesterday afternoon with a final mark of 41.18m and racking up ten team points for her team.

The 3000m women's Steeplechase would see two USM athletes scoring for their team, with senior Abigail White being crowned the 2026 KCAC Champion in the gritty event. White marked a final time of 11:31.46—Abby is currently ranked No. 14 in all of NAIA and is gearing up to take her talents to the national meet.

Katie Cameron would be the second Spire to score in the Steeple, coming in 4^th overall in the finals. Cameron earned her team five points with her final mark of 12:29.62.

USM men would take over the men's 3000m Steeplechase as four Spire athletes would place in the top eight, with each athlete contributing to their team total. KCAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week and national qualifier, Prince Ntozo, proudly earned KCAC Champion when he crossed the finish line first with a National "B" Standard finish of 9:18.21.

James White would come in 4^th overall out of the seventeen competitors as the sophomore battled to the finish at a final time of 9:23.77 and adding five team points to his crew's efforts. Mohamed Elgossy would add to his resume as the second fastest USM T&F freshman of all time with his 5^th place finish at the conference finals in his first year in the collegiate landscape. Mohamed tallied another four team points for his squad and marked a final time of 9:40.99. Fellow freshman David Roberson Jr. rounded out all scoring placements with an 8^th place finish and an impressive final time of 9:56.41.

In the women's 100m dash prelims, two Spires would be in the top eight to move on to today's final round. Senior leader, national qualifier, and USM record holder Deslyne Cooper flew into 5^th place in the preliminary round with a qualifying time of 11.98 seconds. Senior teammate and national qualifier Keiyah Cole would also qualify for today's final round with a 6^th place final and a mark of 12.17 seconds.

Similarly, a few speedy USM women's 100m hurdlers will also make their way to the final round today with top finishes in yesterday's preliminary round. Spire record holder, Jordyn Miller-Knuckles, battled in a true photo finish in the 100mH, coming in 2^nd overall with a qualifying time of 14.20 seconds—Jordyn's USM record is 14.17 seconds. Hope Crabtree will join Miller-Knuckles in the final round this afternoon, with a 7^th place finish and final mark of 15.43.

Not surprisingly, Omarion Udell took the top spot in the preliminary round of the men's 110m hurdles. Omarion marked a qualifying time of 14.73 for today's finals. Fellow freshman Blaize Vaughn would also qualify for the final round this afternoon with a finishing time of 15.47 to earn his spot for the championships.

The USM women's 4x800 relay team saw tough competition, but would come out in 5^th place overall and earn their group four team points toward their team tally. Liv Lohf, Paulina Mercado-Amado, Kylee Sipes, and Carly Holadia raced across the finish with a final mark of 10:44.22.

On the men's side, the 4x800 relay team consisting of Austin Howell, Jacson Cruse, Marte Hailey, and Owen Dierenfeldt would take it down to the wire and grit out a 2^nd place finish to be named KCAC Runners-Up in the grueling race with a final mark of 7:49.56. The USM men's team collected eight points towards their team tally.

Deslyne Cooper would add to her outing yesterday with another qualifying time in the women's 200m race. The senior notched a 24.38 second finish in the preliminary round, earning her spot in the final outing this afternoon.

Former KCAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week, Karlos Humphreys, will also make his presence known in the final round of the men's 200m race today. The sophomore recorded a qualifying time of 21.86 seconds in yesterday's preliminaries—setting up an exciting outing for Karlos in Wichita.

It comes as no surprise that Josie Tyrrell was crowned KCAC Champion in the women's 10K with a final time of 37:26.34. Tyrrell's name is etched all over Spire T&F history and she looks to add even more at the national meet in Asheville this month.

Serenity Larson would come in as KCAC Runner-Up after her USM teammate. Serenity added to her solid outings this year with a 37:35.11 finish, earning her team an additional eight points. Ava Klassen and Mesa Casper brought home 4^th and 7^th place, respectively. Klassen would earn her team five more points with her 39:00.08 finish and Casper would gain an additional two team points to go towards the tally with her 41:48.86 final mark.

Impressively, the USM men would make up seven of the top finishing athletes in the men's 10K. Senior Kenneth Howell added to his resume as the KCAC Runner-Up with a final finish of 31:57.26 in the 10K battle, earning eight team points to his squad's efforts. Aleksandr Krikov would finish 3^rd overall with a final time of 31:57.44 and adding another six team points. Cody Ford would finish 4^th overall amongst his teammates, coming in at a final time of 32:07.78 at the conference finals. Freshman Zackary Zumwalt would earn himself 5^th overall out of the fourteen competitors, marking his finish at 32:18.29 earning his team four points.

Jonathan Eckstein finished in 6^th place with three contributing team points. The sophomore would come in at a final time of 33:05.36. Junior Parker O'Dell and Jorge Perez finished in 7^th and 8^th place, respectively. O'Dell earned himself a 33:34.03 finish while Perez would come in just right behind at 33:34.99. Rylan Trout would round out the top ten with a 33:41.47 final in his freshman year.

Events today in day two are just now starting and you won't want to miss any of the action. You can stay updated as the Spires look to add to the growing list of KCAC Champions through the Live Results from Heartland Timing.