ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will send six of its track & field competitors to the prestigious Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa this weekend as they will hook up with many of the top performers in the nation in their respective events.

Nathan Swadley (Willard, MO/Willard), S&T's school record holder in the shot put and discus throw, will compete in those events as well as the hammer throw at Drake.  Swadley has recorded the best shot put mark in the conference this season of 57-7, which has him 13^th in NCAA Division II in that event.  He is also ranked third in the GLVC and has an NCAA provisional mark in the hammer throw with a top showing of 187-8, while also ranking fourth in the GLVC in the discus with a top throw of 158-9.

Swadley will compete first in the shot put on Friday starting at 1:45 p.m., then will be in the discus throw competition Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and the hammer throw starting at 2:30 p.m.

Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne), who owns the top high jump performance in the GLVC this season with a clearance of 6-11, will compete in that event on Friday at 6 p.m.  Fairless is currently tied for eighth in Division II in the high jump and is the only competitor from a GLVC school that has met a NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark this season in the event.

Joseph Nickell (Nixa, MO/Nixa) was selected to compete in the pole vault, where he has the second-best performance in the GLVC this season of 16-6¾ that he recorded at Southwest Baptist earlier this month.  Nickell, who sits in a tie for 17^th place on the national list in the pole vault, will compete at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

Jarett Johnson (Webb City, MO/Webb City) also ranks second in the GLVC in the javelin throw and 14^th nationally, where he will take his top mark of 209-11 into that competition on Friday at 1:30 p.m.  S&T's last selection for the Drake Relays, Hayes Pateidl (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West), will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Thursday evening.  Pateidl, who holds the S&T school record in the event and who has the GLVC's second-fastest time this season of 9:21.22, will compete at 6:47 p.m. on Thursday.

The lone member of the women's team that will take part in the competition this weekend is Annmarie Tyson, the top-ranked high jumper in the GLVC with a mark of 5-7¾ that is currently the 15^th-best mark in NCAA Division II.  The women's high jump competition is scheduled to take place on Friday starting at 1:15 p.m.

The competitions that the Miner student-athletes will take part are expected to have anywhere from 30 to 49 individuals in the field.