BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It's been two weeks since the University of South Alabama men's and women's indoor track and field teams opened the campaign at Vanderbilt. That break will come to an end on Sunday when both compete at the Privateer Invitational hosted by New Orleans.
It will be the first of four straight meets for the program at the Birmingham Crossplex. Action will get underway at 11 a.m. (CDT) with the start of the women's distance medley relay and conclude following the men's 4x400-meter relay, with the race slated for a 9:55 p.m. start. Field events will begin at 11 a.m. as well, when the women's weight throw and high jump, men's shot put, and the long jump for both commence.
"We've got a lot of good training in, we have been trying to address some technical weaknesses and improve our fitness level," observed Jag head coach Paul Brueske. "We always emphasize self-improvement, each meet we go to we are out there to compete and improve our personal bests. Hopefully we will see some improvement in our performance on Sunday."
The Jaguar women have multiple individuals ranked in three events, including a pair of student-athletes at the top of the league's performance list in their discipline.
Kaitlyn Beans stands first in the SBC in the triple jump — her mark of 12.66m at the Commodore Invitational on Jan.16 earned her the conference's field student-athlete-of-the-week award — while Kriszti Szabo ranks seventh after posting a leap of 11.84m. Jordan Friz paces a quartet of individuals from USA in the pole vault after clearing 3.75m at Vanderbilt's meet, with Kayla Carlile fifth, and Caitlyn Dressler and Megan James both in seventh after recording marks of 3.60m and 3.45m, respectively, at the same event. In the 60-meter hurdles, Berta Lucas posted a time of 8.83 seconds to enter the competition fifth in the Sun Belt, while Tasha Russell is ranked 10th with a time .13 seconds behind.
For the Jag men, Sean Collins was also recognized by the league for his performance at Vanderbilt, as his school-record height of 5.35m in the pole vault is the highest mark posted in the league thus far this season; Niel Giliomee is sixth in the category after clearing 4.80m. Patrick Rohr is also first in the conference rankings, having posted the fastest time in the 3,000 meters after crossing the line in 8:16.66 at the Commodore Invite.
In other running events, Rafael Scott is tied for second in the 60-meter dash and stands seventh in the 200 meters — his times in the two events at Vanderbilt were 6.72 and 21.91 seconds, respectively — with Ben Rolader ranked fourth in the 800-meter run with a clocking of 1:55.31 and Ravaughn Pope the same in the 60-meter hurdles after finishing in 8.15 seconds last time out.
USA has multiple individuals among the top 10 in both throwing events as well. A trio of Jaguars are ranked in the weight throw with Renaldo Frechou fifth (17.40m), Jan-Louw Kotze ninth (16.70m) and Zach Blahnik 10th (16.10m) following their season-opening performances, while Kotze and Matt Weinhold are sixth and eighth in the shot put with marks of 15.52m and 14.95m, respectively.
In addition, several all-Sun Belt performers are slated to make their season debuts at UNO's meet. Christoph Graf was recognized for his efforts in four races at the league's indoor and outdoor championships a year ago, with Matthew Dillon honored in the 110-meter hurdles during the outdoor campaign also. In the fall, Katleho Dyoyi and a quartet of women — Nicole Durham, Ashley Heitling, Laura Labuschaigne and Joanna McCoy — picked up all-SBC honors at the conference cross country championships.
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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