MOBILE, Ala. ? South Alabama track and field will compete in its fourth outdoor meet of the season this weekend at the 65th Annual Florida Relays at Percy Beard Track Facility in Gainesville, Fla. The two-day meet, which begins Friday, April 3, will feature eight Southeastern Conference schools, six Atlantic Coast Conference schools and four Sun Belt Conference programs, including USA.
“There will be a very high-level of competition at this meet, so we hope it will bring out the best in our athletes,” USA head coach Paul Brueske said. “We want to keep getting better, keep moving up and improving those seasonal and personal bests.”
Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and host-team Florida will represent the SEC at the meet. The ACC will be represented by Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Boston College and Clemson.
USA also faces competition from SBC opponents Florida Atlantic, Western Kentucky and Florida International at the meet.
The Lady Jags look to add to their list of NCAA Regional qualifiers, which includes pole vaulter Emily Sawyer and high jumper Nicole Knox.
Knox met a regional-qualifying mark for the second time this season last weekend at the LSU Tiger Relays, with a jump of 1.75m/5-08.75. In her first two meets this season, Knox has not finished lower than second place.
The Jags have not had an athlete regionally qualify, however, freshman thrower Joey Torres set a personal best in the discus last weekend with a throw of 50.87m/166-11, less than a meter shy of the regional-qualifying standard.
Friday’s events begin with the women’s 1,500-meter run at 11:30 a.m. (EDT). The meet will conclude Saturday evening with the men’s 4x400m relay, which is scheduled to begin at 6:55 p.m. (EDT).
Live stats for the Florida Relays can be accessed by clicking here.
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).
