SEARCY, Ark. – Missouri S&T's Otto Knittel (Spring Hill, KS/Spring Hill) established a new school record in the decathlon and put himself in a position to potentially qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships to highlight the performances for S&T at the Harding Last Chance Qualifier.

Knittel improved his spot in the decathlon, jumping to the 12^th-best mark in NCAA Division II with a school record score of 6,949 points.  Over the two days, he had the best performance among the five competitors in six of the 10 events, including times of 11.07 seconds in the 100-meters and 49.27 seconds in the 400-meters that resulted in over 800 points in both events.

Owen Fraser (Kirksville, MO/Kirksville) also improved his mark in the shot put to 56-8¼ to win that event, while Ethan Crouch (Rolla, MO/Rolla) was second in the shot with his mark of 53-10¾.  Fraser also recorded a throw of 173-11 in the discus that was good for a third place finish.

S&T also had a first place finishes from Jacob Luebbert (Warsaw, MO/Warsaw) in the hammer throw with a mark of 205-9 and Rhet Liley (Jackson, MO/Jackson) in the javelin throw with a mark of 194-1, while Dawson Sherer (Galena, MO/Galena) placed third in the javelin at 182-9. 

Meanwhile, Paulvin Horton (Raleigh, NC/Garner) placed second in the triple jump with a top mark of 45-6, Kyle Burke (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield) was third in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.47 seconds as was Lucas Rackers (Florissant, MO/St. Louis University HS) in the 1,500-meters in 3:49.11 and Henry Born (Lake Quivira, KS/Shawnee Mission Northwest) took fourth in the 1,500 in 3:51.39.

Emma Puetz was the only member of the women's team to compete Thursday and she won the 1,500-meters in 4:36.71.

The NCAA will announce the participants for the national championship meet – set to take place in Emporia, Kan., beginning on May 23 – on Tuesday, May 14.