MOBILE, Ala. ? South Alabama track and field will compete in its second outdoor meet of the season Saturday when it travels to Lafayette, La., for the Louisiana Classics.
USA will compete against 19 schools at the meet, including four Sun Belt Conference schools and one Southeastern Conference program. Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette and Troy are scheduled to compete, while LSU is the lone SEC school scheduled for the meet.
“We’re just looking for continued improvement,” USA head coach Paul Brueske said. “The kids have been working hard. A couple of our key athletes are a little banged up right now, but I’m looking forward to the weekend. There will be some good competition for our team, and it’s a good meet for us, for where we’re at right now.”
The Lady Jags will look to continue their steady improvement, and build on last weekend’s performances at the Southern Miss Invitational. South Alabama senior Emily Sawyer qualified for the NCAA Regionals and set a new personal best in the pole vault with a vault of 3.85m/12-07.50, to lead USA in its first outdoor meet of the season.
Tiffany Medenwaldt broke the school record in the hammer throw at Southern Miss with a toss of 43.15m/141-07.00. She also placed second in the shot put (11.89m/39-00.25), and third in the discus (38.16m/125-02.00).
In the running events, Louise Faye will look to build on last weekend’s second-place finish in the women’s 400-meter dash. Magrina Chepkoech will also look to improve upon her second-place finish in the women’s 5,000-meter run.
Distance runner Onesmus Too will lead the Jags into Saturday’s meet, after capturing first place in the 1,500m run and third in the 800m at Southern Miss. Too won the 1,500m with a time of 4:04.17, and finished the 800m in 1:56.23, just one second behind the first-place finish.
Kendrell Bonner will lead the Jags in the field events after tying for first place at Southern Miss with a vault of 4.26m/13-11.75.
Saturday’s meet begins at 10 a.m. with the throws, and will conclude with the men’s 4x400m relay at 6 p.m.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
