ROLLA, Mo. – Besides Nathan Swadley (Willard, MO/Willard) being named as the Academic All-America of the Year in NCAA Division II men's track & field by the College Sports Communicators, three additional members of Missouri S&T's men's track & field team have also garnered Academic All-America for the 2022-23 season on the squad announced today.

Jake Anderson (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) was selected to the Academic All-America second team, while Otto Knittel (Spring Hill, KS/Spring Hill) and Andrew Lofgren (Chesterfield, MO/Parkway West) were chosen to the third team.  The academic honors are the first for all three individuals, who join Swadley, a first-team selection (see related story) on the squad. 

It is the first time in the history of the Miner athletic program that one team has had four student-athletes selected in the same season and comes after Missouri S&T swept the team championships in track & field during the 2023 season.

Anderson, an aerospace engineering major at S&T, also earned all-conference honors by finishing second in the pole vault at both Great Lakes Valley Conference meets this season.  Anderson cleared 15-1 at the GLVC Outdoor Championships to take second, after finishing as the runner-up indoors with a clearance of 15-9¾.  He also competed at the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, where he finished in 14^th place.

Knittel was a two-time conference champion during his sophomore season as he captured both of the multi-event competitions during the conference championships.  A mechanical engineering major, Knittel scored a season-high 6,515 points to win the decathlon after posting a winning total of 4,571 in the indoor heptathlon; he also recorded a seventh place finish in the 400-meter hurdles during the outdoor championships.

Lofgren was a standout in both track and cross country for the Miners, earning All-GLVC in both sports during the 2022-23 season.  He finished seventh at the GLVC Cross Country Championships in November as the Miners placed third at the meet, then followed it up with a fifth place performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the GLVC Outdoor Championships to help the Miners earn their team championship.  Lofgren is majoring in geological engineering at Missouri S&T.

The Academic All-America honors announced today gives Missouri S&T a total of six awards this season and 120 in program history, the eighth-most all-time among NCAA Division II institutions.