KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Missouri S&T captured three championships Friday and moved to the top of the standings on the men's side at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Truman State University.  The women's team, meanwhile finds itself in third place following the second day of competition.

The men's team captured championships in the decathlon with Otto Knittel (Spring Hill, KS/Spring Hill) taking his second straight title in the multi-events, Owen Fraser (Kirksville, MO/Kirksville) captured the title in the shot put and Isaac Pollard (Lindale, TX/Lindale) won the pole vault.

Knittel finished with 6,702 points to win the decathlon and was one of three Miners among the top five, as Dawson Sherer (Galena, MO/Galena) ended up third with 6,135 points and Caleb Craft (Jackson, MO/Jackson) accumulated 5,923 points to place fifth.

Fraser, competing in his hometown, posted a throw of 55-1½ to win the shot put and was part of a one-two finish with Ethan Crouch (Rolla, MO/Rolla), whose mark of 54-8¼ was good for second.  S&T had a third finisher among the top five in the shot put as well as Tyler Marchert (Frankfort, IL/Lincoln-Way East) was fifth at 50-6¼.

The third win came from Pollard in the pole vault as he won with a clearance of 15-2¾.  He was joined in the top eight by Xander Hall (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit), who cleared 14-8¾ to finish in fourth.  The Miners also got a scoring performance from Daniel Garrison (Liberty, MO/Liberty) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as his time of 9:22.67 was good for fourth place.

In the preliminary rounds contested on Friday, the Miners had three advance to the finals of the 110-meter hurdles as Kyle Burke (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield), Nathan Apple (Louisburg, KS/Louisburg) and Luke Myszka (Downs, IL/Tri-Valley) and two in the 100-meters in Samuel Schmidt and Reece Johnson (Festus, MO/Festus).  Schmidt and Burke also had qualifying times in the 200-meters, while Andrew Bacon (Webster Groves, MO/Webster Groves) qualified for the 800-meter finals as did Sam Wright (Hillsboro, MO/Hillsboro) in the 400-meter hurdles.

At the end of Friday's competition, the Miners hold a two-point advantage over Lewis with 61 points, while Indianapolis is in third with 47.

The women's team had three third place finishes on Friday, as Grace Giesler (Owasso, OK/Owasso) captured third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:22.01 and Elizabeth Rothweiler (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) posted a third place finish as well in the pole vault  as she cleared 11-10¾.

Maya Wright (Hillsboro, MO/Hillsboro) had the other third place showing in the heptathlon with a final total of 4,407 points, while Lauryn Fenoglio (Granite City, IL/Granite City) placed fifth with 3,593 points. Wright also qualified for Saturday's final in the 100-meter hurdles with the fourth-best time of 15.14 seconds as well as in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:08.12, joining Hailey Smith (Wentzville, MO/Timberland) in that final as she qualified in 1:06.52.

S&T also got a sixth-place finish from Jenna Mueller (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) in the pole vault at 9-5 ¼ and Paige Lambright (Poplar Grove, IL/Belvidere North) in the discus with a mark of 131-11, while Sydney Stephens (Plattsburg, MO/Plattsburg) took eighth at 131-5 in the discus as did Victoria Regitz (Rockville, MD/Rockville) in the steeplechase with a time of 11:59.70.

The Miners finished the second day with 22 points, trailing Indianapolis and Lewis in the team standings.  S&T is three points ahead of William Jewell heading into the final day of the meet on Saturday.