BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Patrick Rohr won his race while Kaitlyn Beans and Jordan Friz set school records to lead the University of South Alabama men's and women's indoor track and field teams at the Samford Invitational, held at the Birmingham Crossplex on Friday.

Rohr claimed the men's mile run with a career-best 4:12.45 time, the second time he has won at the distance in as many races this season, while Beans finished second with a 12.89m effort in the women's triple jump that not only beat her own school standard but the previous meet record she set a year ago.  It marked the third time in the last 13 days that the junior has finished first or second in the event.

Friz also broke a record she already owned by clearing 4.05m in the women's pole vault to place third.

In the team standings, the Jaguar men were second in a field of 12 after collecting 56 points while USA's women placed 11th out of 16 schools.

"We had a good meet with several breakthrough performances," stated head coach Paul Brueske.  "I think this meet gives us some momentum going into the Sun Belt Conference Championship."

Christoph Graf also had a second-place result at the meet, the last for the Jaguars in the regular season, after crossing the line less than a second behind Rohr in the mile, with Sean Collins tying for second in the men's pole vault after posting a 5.10m mark.  Rafael Scott ended up third in the men's 200-meter dash with a time of 21.77 seconds as well, while Ravaughn Pope posted a clocking of 8.15 seconds in the men's 60-meter hurdles to place fifth.

Jan-Louw Kotze paced the men's squad in the throwing events.  He recorded a career-best 17.72m distance — good to move into fourth on the school's all-time performance list — in the weight throw, coming in fourth place one spot in front of teammate Renaldo Frechou, who had a mark of 17.34m.  Thomas Boyd was seventh and Jobi Finau eighth with throws of 16.75m and 16.73m, respectively, to give the Jaguars half of the top eight finishers in the discipline.  Kotze also was among the top five in the shot put, placing fifth on a 15.63m effort, with Zach Blahnik next in the event standings after a career-best throw of 15.33m.

LaMia Miller was sixth in the women's shot put after recording a distance of 13.77m, Niel Giliomee finished in eighth place in the men's pole vault with a 4.80m height and Taylor Dames cleared 1.65m to come in eighth in the women's high jump.  Ariel Johnson earned a ninth-place finish in the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.54m as well.

Laura Labuschaigne crossed the line eighth in the women's 800 meters with a time of 2:14.59, a personal-best mark that now ranks fifth on USA's all-time performance list, while Katleho Dyoyi finished the 3,000 meters in 8:34.46 to come in eighth place in the race.  Berta Lucas recorded a career-best 8.72 second time in the women's 60-meter hurdles, moving into fifth on the school's all-time performance list while ending up 10th in the preliminary round of the event.

The conference championship — a two-day event — will commence on Monday, Feb. 22, and be held at the Birmingham Crossplex.

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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