COLLEGE ATHLETE REPORT: OUHS grad shines on national stage; BHS' Pattison solid for Lee
Oklahoma Union High School 2021 graduate Nate Collier isn’t even technically a college freshman yet in terms of athletic competition.
But, he’s already proven he’s one of the elite young shot put and discus throwers in the nation.
The Abilene Christian University student — who competed last winter and spring on an unattached status — as a redshirt freshman — for ACU, recently flexed his muscle at the United States Track and Field Association U20 meet in Oregon.
Collier launched the platter 185-feet-2-inches in the discus to finish fifth (the winner recorded 197-2). Collier finished seventh in the shot put, at 56–9.25, just a little less than five feet shy of the winner (64-4).
For a guy with four years of college eligibility remaining, Collier appears to be on the threshold of a special career.
During the spring outdoor season, he won the discus championship at multiple meets and also placed high in the shot put.
During his years at OUHS, Collier starred on the Cougars first-ever state championship boys basketball team, as well as make his mark in throwing.
During the Class 2A state track meet in 2021, Collier won the shot put gold medal (50-3.5) and finished second in the shot put (174-5.5).
Collier has displayed remarkable progress despite having to compete with heavier weights on the college/university level.
In high school competition, the shot weighs 12 pounds but is increased to 16 pounds in college meets. The discus is about a pound heavier in college than it is in high school.
Following are some of Collier’s results in outdoor meets last March and April.
Site: Abilene Christian (March 17-19) — Discus: 172-10 (3rd), Shot put: 50-3.5 (8th).
Site: Texas Tech (April 1-2) — Discus: 193.3 (2nd) , Shot: 51-5 (5th).
Site: North Texas (April 9-10) — Discus: 188-5 (1st), Shot: 53-5.75 (3rd).
Site: McMurry — Discus: 179-9 (1st), Shot: 52.3.25 (2nd).
Site: Henderson State (april 21) — Discus: 179-11 (1st), Shot: 51-2 (2nd).
Oliver Jackson Twilight (April 28) — Discus: 186-6 (1st), Shot: 50-10 (5th).
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Former Lady Bruin standout Pattison turned in a solid junior transfer season for Lee University, which finished at 29-23 and made a deep run in the Gulf South Conference tournament.
Pattison — who played her junior college ball at Murray State (Tishomingo) — pitched Lee to a 7-5 must-win victory against Montevallo in one of its conference tourney wins.
She started on the bump and worked 4.1 innings of four-hit, one-walk ball. She allowed four runs and relied on her defense to record all 12 outs.
Pattison collected the win to improve to 3-0 on the season.
For the season, Pattison appeared in 24.0 innings, sculpted a 5.54 earned run average, walked eight batters and struck out 10.
Lee used her sparingly the first two months of the season, but starting in mid-April she earned a chance to make a bigger impact. She made seven appearances from April 15 through May 7, compared to only three from Feb. 13 through March 29.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: COLLEGE REPORT: Former OUHS athletic great shines in national meet
