NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama men's track and field program claimed the Sun Belt Conference Team GPA award for the third consecutive season after the league office announced Friday winners for the 2015-16 academic year.

As a group, the Jaguars recorded a 3.08 cumulative grade-point average last season to edge out Louisiana-Monroe by six-tenths of a point to earn the honor.  After finishing fourth at the Sun Belt Indoor Championship in February, South recorded a second-place finish at the conference outdoor meet with a total of 138 points.

Individually, Jan-Louw Kotze was not only a first-team Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America selection, he received the NCAA Elite 90 Award for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship; he would also earn first-team All-America accolades with a sixth-place finish at the event.  Patrick Rohr joined Kotze in collecting first-team academic all-district honors.

Seventeen of 39 members of the team made the Dean's List following the spring semester, with an additional nine individuals recording a 3.0 GPA or better while in competition.  In the fall, 13 men made the Dean's List with a total of 24 members of the program posting a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

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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