LAFAYETTE, La. – Patrick Rohr capped the University of South Alabama men's and women's track and field teams' second day at the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championship by winning the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday at the Ragin' Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility.
It's the ninth time the senior has earned all-league honors but his first individual victory, coming after he was runner-up in the race each of the last two years. Rohr recorded a time of 9:06.82 to claim the event by a four-second margin.
"Patrick has been all-conference numerous times including being a runner-up, it was nice to see him seal the deal at his final conference meet," said Jaguar head coach Paul Brueske. "He led the whole race, he did what he had to do to win. We're real proud of him."
Katleho Dyoyi posted a fourth-place finish in the steeplechase as well, finishing the race in 9:14.13.
Jan-Louw Kotze was fourth in the men's shot put, recording a career-best effort of 16.76m that moved him into second on USA's all-time performance list. Matt Weinhold added a pair of points after coming in seventh place in the event with a 15.88m mark.
Taylor Dames also had a fourth-place result in the women's high jump after clearing a career-high 1.71m.
A day after earning all-Sun Belt honors in the javelin, Kriszti Szabo returned to lead USA with a career-best 5.87m leap in the women's long jump to come in sixth place. She finished just ahead of teammate Kaitlyn Beans, who recorded a mark of 5.82m that was her best jump of the season. LaMia Miller scored for the Jaguars for the second day in a row as well, finishing sixth in the women's shot put with a 14.96m toss.
Cameron Stokes paced the Jags in the multi events, coming in fifth in the men's decathlon after scoring 5,730 points, with teammate Chris Taylor placing sixth at his first-ever conference outdoor meet after posting a total of 5,658.
With 82 points, the Jaguar women remained in first place following the conclusion of second-day action. Texas State and Appalachian State are second and third in the team standings with 52 and 50 points, respectively. USA's men will take a two-point edge over Arkansas State into the final day of the meet having scored 57 points thus far.
"We're pleased with the position we're in right now, we have some momentum going. We have a lot of things to look forward to tomorrow," Brueske commented. "But it is going to be a dogfight, there are some good teams out there. I think both teams are looking good, but it's going to be real close tomorrow."
Rafael Scott closed to within .02 seconds of the school record in the men's 100-meter dash, using a mark of 10.35 seconds in the preliminary round to qualify third for Sunday's finals. The sophomore also was fifth overall in the preliminary round of the 200-meter dash, crossing the line second in his heat in 20.80 seconds — the best time of his career — to move into a tie for second at the distance on the school's all-time performance list.
Ravaughn Pope qualified fourth for the finals in the men's 110-meter hurdles after posting a time of 14.36 seconds, and Larry Lombard was fourth in qualifying in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 53.01 seconds; it's the third meet in a row the freshman has lowered his time in the event. Mark Watts was the sixth qualifier for the final in the men's 400 meters as well after a preliminary round clocking of 47.57 seconds, his best time of the year.
Christoph Graf also used a season-best 1:53.04 time in the men's 800-meter run led to earn the final spot in the finals on Sunday.
With a season-best 13.95 second time in the women's 100-meter hurdles, Berta Lucas was sixth in the preliminary round and will advance to the finals on the last day of the meet. Marina Swanepoel placed sixth as well in the women's 400-meter hurdles preliminaries as her time of 1:01.82 was her fastest of the season and only .05 seconds off her personal best set in 2014.
"On the men's side, we had people qualify in every race on the track; we've never had that before," Brueske observed. "On the women's side we have people in the 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles, 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters as well as field events, so we're going to have to do well in the events that we are capable of performing well in. If we go out there and do our best and compete the way we are capable of I think we will be very competitive."
The final day of the meet will get underway at 10 a.m. (CDT) with the men's discus, concluding after the men's 4x400-meter relay which is slated to start at 8 p.m.
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).
—USA—
Women's Team Standings through Day 2 (9 Events Scored)
1) South Alabama - 82
2) Texas State - 52
3) Appalachian State - 50
4) Arkansas State - 46
5) UL Lafayette - 38
6) Georgia State - 32.5
7) UT Arlington - 19.5
8) Troy - 11
9) UL Monroe - 10
9) Little Rock - 10
Men's Team Standings through Day 2 (7 Events Scored)
1) South Alabama - 57
2) Arkansas State - 55
3) UL Lafayette - 41
4) UL Monroe - 40
5) Appalachian State - 20
5) Troy - 20
7) Texas State - 19
8) UT Arlington - 14
