BOLIVAR and ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The University of Central Missouri track & field team opened its 2025 outdoor season Thursday, March 27, at two meets, the SBU Bearcat Invitational in Bolivar, Mo., and the Washington University Distance Carnival in St. Louis, Mo. 

The Mules & Jennies will compete in the SBU Bearcat Invitational Thursday, March 27, through Saturday, March 29, while the WashU Distance Carnival will wrap up on Friday, March 28.

At SBU, the Jennies' Kristen Jones and Marah Klover opened action Thursday in the women's heptathlon. Through four out of seven events, Jones sits in third place with 2,677 points while Klover is in seventh with 1,466 points. 

Jones finished runner-up in both the high jump (personal-best 1.55m/5-01.00) and 200m dash (25.88), was third in the 100m hurdles (personal-best 15.80), and sixth in the shot put (8.82m/28-11.25), while Klover was third in the shot put (9.40m/30-10.25) and high jump (1.49m/4-10.50), and seventh in the 100m hurdles (19.27). 

The heptathlon will wrap up Friday with the long jump, javelin and 800m run. 

At the Distance Carnival, the Mules' Luke Engel posted a time of 31:42.32 in the 10,000m run, finishing 11th in his section and tying his personal-best time.