INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Missouri S&T's men's track & field had a dominant second day performance Sunday to capture its third Great Lakes Valley Conference indoor championship at the conference's indoor meet at the University of Indianapolis.

The Miners, who earned their first indoor title since 2020, had four individuals earn conference titles on the second day to go along with Jacob Luebbert's (Warsaw, MO/Warsaw) title in the weight throw on Saturday.  The Miners also picked up two of the conference's major awards, including Shaun Meinecke being selected as the league's Coach of the Year.

Nathan Swadley (Willard, MO/Willard), named at the end of the meet as the GLVC's Field Athlete of the Year, captured the championship in the shot put with a winning mark of 58-7¼. Aaron Toben (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette) did likewise with a time of 49.76 seconds in the 400-meters and Samuel Schmidt took the title in the 200-meters with a winning time of 22.16 seconds.

The Miners also had the top three finishers in the heptathlon – and four of the top five overall – led by Otto Knittel's (Spring Hill, KS/Spring Hill) winning total of 4,571 points.  Knittel had the fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles to begin the day, then cleared 12-7½ in the pole vault to move into the lead in the multi-event competition.

The Miners' other top finishers in the heptathlon were Caleb Craft (Jackson, MO/Jackson), who was second with 4,382 points, Dawson Sherer (Galena, MO/Galena) in third with 4,268 and Kamden Lockwood (Herscher, IL/Herscher), the fifth place finisher with 4,059 points.

Kyle Burke (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield) finished third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.38 seconds as did Schmidt in the 60-meters with a time of 6.95 seconds.  The Miners' 4x400-meter relay team of Sam Wright (Hillsboro, MO/Hillsboro), Knittel, Toben and Michael Pate (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette) also took third place with a time of 3:24.88.

Paulvin Horton (Raleigh, NC/Garner) recorded a third place showing in the high jump as he cleared 6-5 and added a fourth place performance in the triple jump with a leap of 46-1¼.  Pate recorded a fourth place effort in the 400-meters in 50.19 seconds, while Toben added a fourth in the 200-meters in 22.44 seconds and Lucas Rackers (Florissant, MO/St. Louis University HS) edged Hayes Pateidl (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) for fourth in the mile, posting a time of 4:19.54 to Pateidl's 4:20.15. 

Andrew Bacon (Webster Groves, MO/Webster Groves) got fifth in the 800-meters in 1:56.54 and Daniel Garrison (Liberty, MO/Liberty) finished sixth in the mile in 4:20.99.

Tyler Marchert (Frankfort, IL/Lincoln-Way East) placed fifth in the shot put with a mark of 52-2½, one spot ahead of Luebbert's sixth place throw of 51-7¼.  Wright was seventh in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.56 seconds. Tristan Jones (Hillsboro, MO/Hillsboro) took eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 42-8¼ as did Hayes Pateidl (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) in the 3,000-meters with a time of 8:39.25.

The Miners finished the two-day meet with 158 points, 18 more than second place Lewis and 52 in front of host Indianapolis.

Missouri S&T was also selected as the recipient of the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award as a team, while Tyler Marchert (Frankfort, IL/Lincoln-Way East) was selected as the Miners' nominee for the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award, which honors student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.