EUGENE, Ore. – Junior Renaldo Frechou, a men's hammer thrower for the University of South Alabama's track and field program, earned first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday at Hayward Field.

Frechou steadily increased his distance on each of his first three attempts in the event, and on his final throw he reached 68.84m to place fifth out of 24 competitors.  It's the second year in a row that the Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa, resident has received first-team All-America accolades after finishing seventh in the same event a year ago.

It marks the first time since 2006 and '07 — when Tonny Okello and Vincent Rono both accomplished the feat — that the Jaguars have had a member of the men's track and field program earn All-America recognition in consecutive seasons.

"The competition this year was as strong as it has been in a while, and it was definitely better than last year," South Alabama head coach Paul Brueske said. "Renaldo was in this situation last year, for him to come back and do his best on his final throw is no small task. I'm proud of his effort, he's performed great for South Alabama."

The All-American currently holds the school and Sun Belt Conference records in the hammer throw with a 69.67m mark recorded earlier this spring.

On Friday, fellow junior Jan-Louw Kotze will be the second of three Jaguars in action at the national championship meet when he takes part in the men's discus at 6:05 p.m. (CDT).

"Renaldo's performance will hopefully inspire Jan-Louw and Kaitlyn [Beans] to do the same thing in their events," commented Brueske. "All three of them train together all the time and the mindset becomes if Renaldo can do it, so can they."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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