AUSTIN, Texas – The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Thursday that the University of South Alabama's Jan-Louw Kotze has been selected to the third-team Capital One Academic All-America® Men's Track & Field/Cross Country team.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at their current institution.

Kotze — an exercise science major with a 4.0 GPA — is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, and was also named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team in 2014.

In competition, the junior was an honorable mention All-American in the discus this season after finishing 20th in the event at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago.  Kotze advanced to the national meet following a seventh-place result at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries after entering as the 13th seed.

At the Sun Belt Conference Championships in May, he set a school and league record in the event after claiming the title with a 59.72m toss.  The native of Kleinzee, North Cape, South Africa, also set personal bests in the hammer throw (60.88m) and shot put (16.34m) at the SBC Championships, ending the season ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the events on USA's all-time performance list.

Kotze is just the ninth individual in school history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors, and the first from the Jaguar track and field programs since Laura Martin and Olga Mencnarowska were named to the second- and third-team at-large squads in 1998.

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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