COLUMBIA, Mo. – The final tune-up competition for Missouri S&T's track & field teams prior to next week's Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships was a strong one, as the teams combined for two school records and three new or improved provisional qualifying marks at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge at the University of Missouri.

One of the school records came from Nathan Swadley (Willard, MO/Willard), as he recorded a throw of 56-9¼ that also made an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark.  Swadley hit his personal best in the third round, then surpassed that with his record-setting throw in the next round of the competition.

Garrett Miller (Kearney, MO/Kearney) had a second place performance in the weight throw with his mark of 58-8½, which earned him an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark.  Meanwhile, Aaron Jones (Kansas City, MO/Ruskin) also recorded a second place finish Saturday in the high jump as he cleared 6-6¾ and Ezekiel Buck (Elburn, IL/Geneva) took third in the pole vault by clearing 15-7.  Alex Staples (River Forest, IL/Oak Park River Forest) added a fourth place finish in the 400-meters in 51.04 seconds.

Joseph Nickell (Nixa, MO/Nixa) had a fifth place showing in the pole vault as he went over the bar with a career-best mark of 15-1, while Nick Janke (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and Daniel McMurran (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis University HS) tied for fifth in the high jump as both cleared 6-2¾ as did Justin Murdock (Camdenton, MO/Camdenton) in the shot put with a mark of 50-2¾.

Dane Rodriguez (Barnhart, MO/Windsor) placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 23-1¼, as he was one of five Miners to finish among the top 11 in the event.  Augie Bindbeutel took seventh with his mark of 22-6½, while Bailey Crone (Collinsville, IL/Collinsville) leaped 22-1 to finish ninth, followed by Luke Allen (Jefferson City, MO/Calvary Lutheran) at 21-4¼ and Buck in 11^th at 21-0¾.  S&T also had three of the top eight finishers in the 3,000-meters, led by Morgan Cauveren's (Lee's Summit, MO/Blue Springs) fifth place finish in 9:07.63.

Andrew Lofgren (Chesterfield, MO/Parkway West) was sixth in the 3,000-meters in 9:07.67 and Nathan Gillespie (Enterprise, AL/Enterprise) took eighth in 9:21.85.  The Miners got a sixth place finish from Brandon Religa (Manhattan, KS/Manhattan) in the 400-meters in 52.05 seconds, while Justin Hawkins (O'Fallon, IL/Montrose) was two spots behind him in 52.54.

Swadley finished seventh with a mark of 52-8¼ in the weight throw, while Murdock's throw of 49-1½ earned him a ninth place finish.  S&T also got a 10^th place finish in that event from Daniel Miller (Jefferson City, MO/Jefferson City) with a throw of 46-11½, while Miller added a seventh place showing in the shot put at 48-6¾.

S&T also had a trio finish among the top 12 in the triple jump, led by Jones in ninth with a leap of 45-0½. Crone was right behind him with his mark of 44-9½ and Allen placed 12^th at 43-5¼.

Wil Crutcher (Rolla, MO/Rolla) posted an 11^th place finish in the mile in 4:30.01, while Nick Ernst (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) came in 12^th in the 800-meters in 2:03.50 as did Josh Hallum (Burnsville, MN/St. Thomas Academy) in the 200-meters in 23.57 seconds.

The Miners' only relay in competition Saturday, the 4x400-meter team of Dillon Ruble (St. Charles, MO/St. Charles), Mark Krueger (Smithville, MO/Smithville), Crutcher and Ernst, finished sixth in 3:37.42.

Skyler Ruszkowski finished in second place in the long jump with a leap of 18-8½, a mark that broke the school record and earned her a third NCAA qualifying mark, as she already owns an automatic performance in the high jump and a provisional in the pentathlon.

Camille Baker cleared 5-4½ to take third in the high jump, while Anne Simpson and Annmarie Tyson each recorded a clearance of 5-0½ to tie for eighth place in the high jump.  Krista Hilmas finished 11^th in the mile with a time of 5:33.58 and Anne Vernon did likewise in the 3,000-meters in 11:43.90.

Brittany Moore was 12^th in the weight throw with a mark of 41-9¼, as was Delaney Guy in the triple jump with her performance of 32-0¾.

The GLVC Championships – which will be contested over two days -- will begin next Saturday in Indianapolis.