PUEBLO, Colo. – For the fourth time in his collegiate career, Missouri S&T's Nathan Swadley (Willard, MO/Willard) has earned All-America honors in the shot put as he placed fifth in the event Saturday night at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Swadley saved his best for last, as he posted his top throw of the evening on his final attempt with a mark of 59-3 that was also the fourth-best mark all-time in program history.  He had fallen back to sixth just moments before he posted his throw that moved him back into fifth place in the competition.

After opening the night with a throw of 54-7½, Swadley recorded a mark of 58-7¼ in round two that moved him into second place at the time.  He was unable to improve his mark on each of his next three attempts, but after Missouri Southern's Cedric Pearson posted a sixth-round mark of 59-feet to leap over Swadley, the Miner senior took the fifth place spot right back on the next throw.

The All-America honor was the second for a Miner at the national meet – Jacob Luebbert (Warsaw, MO/Warsaw) captured the honor on Thursday with his third place showing in the hammer throw – and gave Swadley a spot on the podium in his fourth straight national meet.  He had a sixth place finish in the shot put at the 2022 indoor meet and followed that by placing seventh in the outdoor season, then had a sixth place finish again in the event at the 2023 indoor championships in March.

As the result of finishing fifth on Saturday, it also made Swadley the fourth Miner in history to win All-America honors on at least four occasions during his career at Missouri S&T.

West Chester's Ralph Casper, who had only two countable throws among his six in the competition, won the national title in the shot put with his throw of 63-2¾ in the fifth round.

The 10 points scored by the Miners in the meet allowed S&T to finish in 28th place overall in the final team standings.