Wichita, Kan.— A huge congratulations to the Spire women as they have once again taken their rightful place as the KCAC Outdoor T&F Champions, making this the fifth time in the last six years the USM women have claimed the top spot in the finals. The women's team edged out the Friends Falcons with a final tally of 179 to 166.

On the men's side, it was a battle right down to the finish but the Spire men would claim 2026 KCAC Outdoor T&F Runner-Up as the Friends Falcons would come out on top on their home field with a final team total of 175 to 154.5.

The 2026 KCAC Outdoor T&F finals has come to a close, but for many Spire athletes the biggest post season stage looms just around the corner in North Carolina. USM has one more chance for those few Spires still looking for their shot to compete on the national stage at a Last Chance Meet set for this Friday, May 8^th through Saturday, May 9^th.

To start off the afternoon in Wichita, freshman Emily Struckman would give it her all in the women's shot put. Emily came in 10^th overall out of twenty-two competing athletes with a final mark of 10.87m.

On the men's side, Nolan Norberto would make his presence known as the sophomore put together a strong final finish in the men's shot put. Nolan would post his longest toss at 15.72m and earn himself a 3^rd place finish at the conference finals in his young collegiate career.

Robert Hennig would score for the Spire men in the discus, coming in 8^th overall out of twenty-five conference opponents. Hennig's longest mark of the day would land at 42.32m to earn him a strong top eight placement.

Nolan Norberto would again make his way to the top ten in the men's discus, coming in at 9^th overall at Friends with a final mark of 42.30m and adding to his already strong outing.

Men's pole vault would see two Spires score for their team in freshman Reed Lynn and senior Justin Johnston. Reed would make his presence known in his first collegiate outdoor post season with a tie for 5^th place and a mark of 12-9.5. Justin would be close behind, rounding out the top ten with a 9^th place final and a 12-3.75 mark.

The nationals bound women's 4x100m relay team came to compete in the finals today, bringing home 2^nd place overall. Members Deslyne Cooper, Haley Sampson, Jordyn Miller-Knuckles, and Keiyah Cole would beat their own school record (previously 46.73 seconds) with a new time to beat coming in at 46.52 in Wichita.

Spire men's 4x100m relay team would finish in similar fashion as they too were named the KCAC Runners-Up in the tough relay race. The squad consisting of Noah Arndt, Karlos Humphreys, Daniel Craig, and Tristian Rogers were clocked at a final time of 41.34 seconds, just barely behind the Falcons who posted a 41.10 finish for the top spot.

National qualifier, Carly Holadia, would continue to add to her impressive personal totals as she was crowned women's 1500m KCAC Champion this afternoon. Carly would post a 4:40.65 final time in the gutsy race, earning her team an additional ten points.

Three of her USM teammates would also contribute to the team total in the women's 1500m. Freshman Liv Lohf was the next Spire up coming in at 4^th place overall with a final finish of 4:47.46. Seniors and national qualifiers Abigail White and Josie Tyrrell would finish 5^th and 6^th overall, respectively, out of the twenty-three competing runners. White would post a 4:48.23 finish with Tyrrell just behind at 4:52.16.

Austin Howell would earn a 2^nd place finish in the men's 1500m race. The junior would earn his team eight points for his tough 3:55.62 finish on the track. Mohamed Elgossy and James White would also represent USM in the 1500m. Mohamed would finish 7^th overall with a 4:04.34 mark and James would complete the top ten placers with a time of 4:09.00.

The women's 100m hurdles would see national qualifying junior Jordyn Miller-Knuckles claiming 3^rd overall just behind athletes from Friends and Ottawa. Jordyn posted a final time of 14.24 seconds in the conference outing. Teammate Hope Crabtree would also add to her teams total in this event, coming in 7^th place overall with a 15.02 finish.

Freshman Omarion Udell has been unstoppable this year in the men's 110m hurdles and today was no exception. Udell would cruise to the top spot to be named the 2026 KCAC Champion with a final time of 14.80 seconds. Fellow freshman Blaize Vaughn would wrap up the scoring for the Spire men with an 8^th place finish and a final time of 15.68 seconds.

USM record holder Deslyne Cooper would battle it out in a photo finish in the women's 400m race, coming in 2^nd overall with a final time of 55.75 seconds. Cooper earned her qualifying time in the 400m dash earlier this season at the Friends U. Spring Invitational and is eager to battle it out in NC. Nationals bound runner Haley Sampson would contribute to her team's total in the same event, coming in 4^th place overall with a 56.77 second finish. Keiyah Cole would round out the Spire scoring in this event, earning her team two points with her 7^th place finish and 59.26 time.

Sophomore standout Karlos Humphreys would add to his totals in the men's 400m. Karlos proudly brought home a 3^rd place finish and a final time of 48.93 seconds. Riley Gibbs would mark the tail end of the top ten placers in this event with a 49.94 second final outing.

As they have been all year, Deslyne Cooper and Keiyah Cole would be neck and neck in the women's 100m sprint. Cooper would edge out Cole with a 4^th place finish and a final time of 12.10 seconds, while Cole would proudly earn 5^th place to earn four team points and a finish of 12.41 seconds.

Carly Holadia and Liv Lohf would keep the dominance going in the women's 800m race. Holadia would earn herself an impressive 2^nd place finish to go along with eight team points and a final time of 2:19.34. Her counterpart Lohf would come in 8^th overall with a 2:25.37 mark out of the twenty-six competing athletes.

Marte Hailey would strongly represent USM in the men's 800m race and rack up a 4^th place finish at the conference championships. Hailey would battle with athletes from Friends, Evangel, and McPherson for the top four slots and come in just under two minutes at 1:57.93. Jonah McGivern would complete the top ten with a final mark of 2:00.77 in his 10^th place finish.

National qualifier, Hope Crabtree, would give it her all in a daunting 400m hurdles event. Hope would finish 4^th overall with a final mark of 1:06.24, earning her team five additional tallies to their total.

The men's 400m hurdles would see two Spire freshmen scoring for their squads. Owen Dierenfeldt earned himself a 6^th place finish as the freshman posted a final time of 56.28 while his teammate Blaize Vaughn would bring home 8^th place overall and a 57.65 mark.

Deslyne Cooper's day was not over yet. The senior would add another top five finish as she battled to 4^th place in the women's 200m race with a final time of 24.58 seconds.

Similarly on the men's side, familiar face Karlos Humphreys would swipe a 5^th place finish as he posted a competitive finish in the 200m coming in at just 21.63 seconds.

The women's 5K would see three Spires placing in the top five with none other than Josie Tyrrell earning another KCAC Champion title with her 1^st place time of 18:14.35. Ava Klassen would be just behind coming in 3^rd overall and posting a 18:31.56 final and junior Serenity Larson just two seconds behind that with a 4^th place final time of 18:33.50.

As expected, the USM men would see a host of athletes finish in the top ten in the men's 5K as well. Junior Camden Bachman would rank the highest amongst his team this afternoon with a 3^rd place finish and posting a time of 15:16.51. Senior Aleksandr Krikov would be next up for USM with a 6^th place finish and a final mark of 15:27.46 with Prince Ntozo hot on his heels coming in 7^th at 15:30.05. Derebe Carr and Cody Ford would conclude the top ten, coming in 8^th and 10^th, respectively. Carr would post a strong 15:31.75 final with Ford coming in at 15:33.82.

In arguably one of the most exciting events of the evening, the USM women gave it their all in the 4x400m relay. The school record holders (3:49.40) Deslyne Cooper, Keiyah Cole, Hope Crabtree, and Haley Sampson would grit out a 3^rd place finish behind Evangel and Friends and post a final time of 3:55.08.

Excitingly, the Spire men would take it all in the men's 4x400m relay with a huge performance in Wichita. Karlos Humphreys, Tristian Rogers, Todd Hicks, and Daniel Craig would coast to the finish line at a 3:17.60 final mark to earn the title of 2026 KCAC Champions in this thrilling final event of the conference championships.