By: Madelyn Stephen, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T men's and women's track and field return to competition this weekend as the Miners travel to Pittsburg, Kan., for the 11th Annual Russ Jewett Indoor Gorilla Classic, hosted by Pittsburg State University at the Robert W. Plaster Center.
Competition begins Friday at 2 p.m. (CST) and runs through 8:30 p.m., with day two action starting at Noon on Saturday. The meet will feature more than 1,200 athletes from 49 schools across the junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division I levels, including nearly every MIAA program. Admission is $5 per day, with children 12 and under are free.
Missouri S&T enters the weekend coming off a record-setting performance at the Bearcat Invitational, highlighted by the 4,000-meter distance medley relay team of Andrew Bacon, Henry Born, Jack Janovick, and Otto Knittel breaking the school record by 18 seconds with a time of 9:45.12 to earn a Division II provisional mark. Born also shattered the 3,000-meter school record in 7:57.39, moving to No. 7 nationally, while Janovick set a new program mark in the 800 meters at 1:51.48. In the throws, Owen Fraser broke his own school record in the shot put with a mark of 19.37 meters and added a provisional throw of 19.65 meters in the weight throw.
Fraser's dominant weekend earned him NCAA Division II National Athlete of the Week honors. The Miners also saw strong performances from Louis Yohannes in the 60-meter hurdles, Andrew Bacon in the mile, Sydney Morris (Jefferson City, MO/Calvary Lutheran) in the women's shot put, and Maya Wright (Hillsboro, MO/Hillsboro) in the pentathlon. With multiple national marks and momentum building, Missouri S&T heads to Pittsburg State looking to continue sharpening performances as championship season approaches.
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