Read about the St. Louis area’s top high school girls track and field athletes and their accomplishments from the 2025 season.
Tiffany Spain was as far from the finish line as she could have been.
But the Cardinal Ritter track and field coach had her trusty stopwatch in hand and her keen eyes were fixed on the runner in the middle of the track.
“I have always watched her hurdles races from the back side of the track,” Spain said. “For the past four years, I’ve never watched a race on the home side where everybody else is, maybe it’s because it’s my kid, but I always watch on the back side.”
As the gun sounded, Spain’s finger clicked on the watch and she watched as her standout hurdler and daughter, Kyndall Spain, glided over the hurdles at Jefferson City High School.
With each beat of her heart, Tiffany Spain wouldn’t allow herself to exhale.
She held her breath for 13.37 seconds.
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“I turned around, looked at the jumbotron, and it said 13.37, and everybody was looking at me and congratulating me, because they know that’s my kid,” Tiffany said. “I was just like, hell yeah, it was so exciting, because she’s been working at this. I was elated. I was excited, I was hype. I was amped. I was a little big-headed then, yeah, that’s my kid.”
From the other side of the track, Kyndall let out an exultant scream of triumph that mirrored her mother’s excitement.
“Oh, I was happy,” Kyndall said. “I don’t know, I was expecting a PR, but I wasn’t expecting that (time). I just wanted to win and run a faster time than I’ve been running all season.”
The All-Metro girls track and field athlete of the year, Kyndall Spain capped her senior season most impressively. Not only did she blaze to state championships in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles races, but she also posted times that ranked among the best nationwide.
Her 13.37 in the 100 hurdles set a new Class 5 state meet record and was tied for the sixth-fastest time in the nation this season.
Not long after, the University of South Carolina signee set a new Missouri all-classes state meet record with a 40.80-second time in the 300 hurdles. It was the fifth-fastest time by a high schooler this year in the U.S.
Kyndall was a three-time state champion in the 300 hurdles (2023-25). She joined Aniyah Brown (100 meters, 2021-22, 2024) as the only three-time state champions in a single event for the Lions. Kyndall also captured back-to-back titles in the 100 hurdles, the first Cardinal Ritter athlete to do that since Valarie Whitted in 2017-18.
All those accolades came under the watchful eye of her mother, and Kyndall acknowledged it will be a transition to hear new coaching voices calling out and pushing her, but she’s ready for the change that will come with running on the NCAA Division I stage.
“I love my mom, but I’m excited to be by myself, experience adulthood,” Kyndall said.
Tiffany flashed a grin when she heard that sentiment.
“It’s kind of nerve-wracking, but in the same token, you want them to grow and blossom and become who they are meant to be,” Tiffany said. “As a coach, I’m excited because I’m excited to see exactly what she does without me being her coach. I’m excited to see how they pour into her.”
Part of what attracted Kyndall to South Carolina was what the coaching staff had to offer her.
The idea of being in a new place didn’t hurt, either.
“I wanted to be as far away from home as I could,” Kyndall said. “I love the coaches. I liked the environment there, and I just really felt at home on my visit.”
Not that she has any hatred toward St. Louis. If she ever got a tattoo, Kyndall said the St. Louis Arch or some St. Louis iconography would feature heavily in it.
Just the pull to strike out on her own was too much for her to ignore. And the chance to go against some of the best hurdlers in the country in the Southeastern Conference excites her.
“You’ve got to be able to prove it,” Tiffany said. “I think one of the reasons she picked South Carolina is because it’s a pro program. If she wants to go pro, this is what you have to do. She’s going to have to be in the back. I want her in that heat. I want her in that smoke.”
Kyndall had offers from programs throughout the nation but opted to join the Gamecocks, whose roster also includes Raytown South alum Zaya Akins.
South Carolina finished seventh in the team standings at the NCAA Outdoor Championships earlier this month. Missing from the team score were both the hurdles events.
Something Kyndall hopes to change.
“That’s my goal,” Kyndall said.
While she won’t be there as her coach, Tiffany is expecting to be in the stands, trading her coach’s hat for just being a proud parent and fan.
“I’m going to be at every track meet,” Spain said. “I want her to look in the stands and say, ‘There are my parents. That’s my mom and my dad. They’re here to support me.’ I want her to hear my loud mouth. I want her to see my face. I want to be able to give her a hug before and after, win, lose or draw.”
Read about the St. Louis area’s top high school girls track and field athletes and their accomplishments from the 2025 season.
