LAFAYETTE, La. – The University of South Alabama men's and women's track and field program enters the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championship with a mix of student-athletes that head coach Paul Brueske hopes will provide the foundation for a successful meet.

"We have some young student-athletes, but we have a lot of experienced individuals who have been there and done that," Jaguar head coach Paul Brueske said.  "The nerves shouldn't be a huge factor, I think they will be relaxed.  They know what they have to do, they've been there many times, they just need to go out there and do what they are capable of."

Christoph Graf and Patrick Rohr are the most decorated members of the program, with each entering their final Sun Belt competition having earned all-league accolades on eight occasions.  The former — voted the conference's indoor track student-athlete of the year in March after winning a pair of races — claimed the men's 1,500 meters and was second in the 10,000-meter run a year ago, with the latter the runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last spring.  This season they rank first and second, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run, with Rohr also atop the league rankings in the steeplechase.

Jan-Louw Kotze has won the men's discus at the SBC Championship each of his first three years with the program, and has earned all-conference honors in five events during his career.  His 62.11m mark in the event, recorded at the Florida Relays over a month ago, not only is best in the league but ranks third in the nation.  Renaldo Frechou enters the meet as the two-time defending champion in the men's hammer throw, as his 66.34m effort at Auburn's Tiger Track Classic in April is currently best in the Sun Belt and among the top 20 in the country.

Kaitlyn Beans has picked up more all-league honors than any other female on the squad, finishing among the top three five times over the last two-plus years including accomplishing the feat in both the triple jump and long jump at the indoor championship in February.  This spring, the junior stands second in the SBC in the former event and is among the top 10 in the latter.

Joanna McCoy was not only all-conference in a pair of events at the league indoor meet but also honored in cross country in the fall, with Laura Labuschaigne also earning all-Sun Belt recognition at both events during the 2015-16 season.  Labuschaigne's 1,500 meter time of 4:24.50 — which broke the previous school record at the distance — posted at the War Eagle Invitational hosted by Auburn is best in the SBC this spring, while McCoy ranks among the top five coming into the outdoor championship in both the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs.

Six individuals collected all-league accolades for the first time in their career at last season's SBC outdoor meet.  That group included Barbara Rivera and Ashton Pennington in the women's javelin, Kayla Carlile in the women's pole vault, Berta Lucas in the women's 100-meter hurdles, Matthew Dillon in the men's 110-meter hurdles and Robert King in the men's javelin.  Two years ago, Phoebe Dowson was all-conference in the women's discus as well.

Carlile was an all-Sun Belt performer in the same event at the league indoor championship this semester too, as was Jordan Friz.  Rafael Scott was all-conference in two events at the same meet, with Sean Collins also honored for the first time in his career at the competition, while the trio of Nicole Durham, Ashley Heitling and Katleho Dyoyi received their first all-SBC honors in cross country in the fall.

Others who have finished among the top three in their disciplines at a conference championship include Ravaughn Pope — who has accomplished the feat on three occasions as a Jaguar — and Niel Giliomee.

Collins, Dillon and Rivera all lead the Sun Belt in their events coming into the weekend, with Collins among the top 10 nationally in the pole vault.  Scott is second in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes with Friz holding the same rank in the pole vault, while Carlile, Dyoyi (men's steeplechase), Giliomee (men's pole vault), Heitling (women's 5,000 meters) and King stand third.

Larry Lombard and Kriszti Szabo are currently ranked second in the men's 400-meter hurdles and women's javelin, respectively, and LaMia Miller is third in the women's hammer throw.

"I think we are looking alright," stated Brueske.  "We have a couple of kids coming off of illnesses and a couple of little tweaks here and there, but I feel like we will be okay for the conference meet.  The expectation, the hope, is that everyone is going to be feeling good.

"What I'm looking for is for us to go out there and perform the way we are capable of," he continued.  "If we can have some of our younger student-athletes step up and achieve some personal bests we are going to be in really good shape.  We don't need to do anything spectacular individually, we need to do what we are capable of; if everyone does that we are going to be hard to beat."

Texas-Arlington is the two-time defending men's champion while Arkansas State claimed the women's crown in 2015, with the Jags finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, in the team standings a year ago.  USA shared the 1999 women's title with Louisiana Tech, while the men have finished second twice — in 2005 and '10 — since 2000.

The meet will open with the start of the men's decathlon Friday at 9 a.m. (CDT), with the heptathlon beginning 30 minutes later.  Field events on the first day of the competition include men's and women's hammer throw and javelin as well as the women's pole vault, with the gun for the women's 10,000 meters slated to go off at 8:30 p.m.; the men will follow 45 minutes after.  Saturday's action will also open at 9 a.m., with the final day of the meet beginning at 10 a.m.

Live updates will be available at http://www.adkinstrak.com/meets/2016/Sun_Belt_Outdoor_Conference_Championship/ throughout the weekend.

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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