MARYVILLE, Mo. - Southwestern freshman Sam Foreman won the race among the Spartans' talented group of freshmen hurdlers to break the longest-standing indoor school record in program history Saturday.

Foreman clocked a time of 8.68 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles to break the school record of 8.70 seconds set by Jackson Shantz in 2014. The freshman from CAM High School finished one spot short of qualifying for finals of the event, missing out by .006 seconds.

"I'm so happy for Sam to break the school record. He had a rough go in the first meet in December, so it was great to see him run closer to his potential," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "He still didn't have the cleanest of hurdle races on Saturday, so if we can clean a few things up, he has the potential to take a run at the national-qualifying standard."

Freshmen Rouce Sayee and Ross Stephens, who had posted the second- and fifth-fastest times in program history in the 60 meter hurdles in December, both ran into issues in their preliminary races. Freshman Peyton Embree nearly matched his time from the December meet.

Redshirt freshman Tyus Wills also ran strong for the Spartans, making it out of the qualifying round of the 60 meter dash into semifinals. He ran two PRs in the 60 meter dash, posting the 13th-best time in program history in semifinals at 7.16 seconds. Later in the meet, Wills ran the 11th-best 200 meter dash in program history, running a lifetime PR of 22.97 seconds.

"I know Tyus was disappointed with how he ran in our December meet, so it was great to see him come out strong here on Saturday," Vicker said. "He put in a lot of great work over the winter break, and it showed."

Sayee improved to ninth in program history in the indoor 400 meter dash with his time of 52.73 seconds. Embree and fellow freshman Emmet Long each ran lifetime PRs in the 200 meter dash by over a full second. Freshman Jedd Weinkoetz posted a new PR in the 60 meter dash, while Stephens showed improvement in the long jump with a new PR.

For the Spartan women, freshman Kasey Springer had a big day in the throwing events. Springer started the day with a massive PR in the shot put on her only throw of the competition. She threw 9.92 meters (32 feet, 6.5 inches), which was a 3-foot lifetime PR, before resting her shoulder for the weight throw. In the weight throw, Springer posted three consecutive PR throws, finishing with a best throw of 11.14 meters (36 feet, 6.75 inches). Springer climbed to sixth and fourth on the program's all-time performance lists in the shot put and weight throw, respectively.

"Kasey has been battling some shoulder soreness and she wasn't sure how her throws would go Saturday," Vicker said. "Seeing the look of disbelief and then pure joy on her face when I told her how far she threw in the shot put was a really cool moment. She couldn't believe it. Hopefully this meet will give her a lot of confidence for the rest of the season."

Freshman Karlie Larsen of Mount Ayr made her season debut for the Spartans, and ran the seventh-fastest 400 meter dash in program history. Larsen crossed the line in 1:08.74 and then came back later in the day to run 29.83 in the 200 meter dash, good enough for 12th on the program's all-time list.

"This was a good starting spot for Karlie," Vicker said. "It was good for her to get back in a competition and see exactly where she's at. As she gets a little more training under her belt, she will really be able to drop that 400 meter time."

The Spartans return to action Saturday at the Dennis Young Alumni Meet hosted by Buena Vista University. Field events begin at 10 a.m., with running events scheduled to start at 12 p.m.