It was a big day for Missouri S&T Miner Athletics at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships Saturday, May 24 at Pueblo, Co.
Owen Fraser, a junior from Kirksville, became the first Miner to win a national championship, capturing the discus with a throw of 59.29 meters.
S&T also had a second All-America performance, as Otto Knittel finished sixth overall in the decathlon with a school-record 7,333 points – 361 points better than the record he set last month.
Fraser, a three-event national qualifier who came into the national meet ranked No. 1 in the discus, never trailed in the event over the weekend, starting off with a 58.59-meter mark. His best throw came on his fifth attempt, He dominated the event, with each of his countable throws going further than anyone else’s in the field.
Saturday, May 24, Fraser finished 16th out of 22 competitors in the shot put, with a best mark of 17.07m that came on his second throw. He did not make the cut for throws 4-6, with his only other countable mark coming on his third throw which went 17.06m.
On the first day of national competition May 22, Fraser finished 12th in the hammer throw with a throw of 57.74 meters.
This season, Fraser earned the Great Lakes Valley Conference Field Athlete of the Week three times and was also the GLVC Field Athlete of the Year. He set the school record in the discus at 60.9 meters, tying for the eighth-best mark in NCAA D-II history. Heading into the national meet he was ranked first in the discus, 14th in the shot put and 13th in the hammer.
