BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Twenty-eight total top-eight finishes highlighted Thursday’s action at the Birmingham Invitational as the University of South Alabama men’s and women’s track and field teams completed the two-day event with 16 personal-records and a number of improvements on all-time marks.
 
“This is a sign of progress,” said head coach Paul Brueske. “These kids are working hard in training and doing the right things. The high number of personal bests is due to a strong commitment training-wise.”
 
In his 2012 debut, senior Joey Torres broke the school weight throw record on a 17.99m (59-00.25) mark to finish second. Exactly 360 days ago, Torres did the same at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., where he posted a mark of 17.90m.
 
Four more Jags joined Torres in the top eight, with Steven Nobles grabbing third (17.41m/57-01.50), and Adam Patterson (4^th, 17.10m/56-01.25), Jeff Long (5^th, 16.00m/52-06.00) and Jarrod Kedzior (8^th, 14.04m/46-00.75) each throwing for personal-bests.
 
Demetre Baker finished fourth in the men’s shot put on a mark of 15.20m (49-10.50) to lead Patterson (5^th, 15.00m/49-02.50), Kedzior (7^th, 14.35m/47-01.00) and Long (8^th, 14.07m/46-02.00).
 
Anton Graphenreed won the men’s 200 meters, taking the tape in a personal-best 21.38 seconds. He also recorded a career-best 6.85 in the 60 meters.
 
“I believe Anton can run faster,” said Brueske of the all-Sun Belt Conference sprinter. “He stumbled a little and came off balance, but still managed a record. Anton is in the midst of quite a senior finale.”
 
Tori Lawson finished second in the women’s mile run, completing the distance in 4:58.80 to jump Wendy Davis’s 2001 third-place all-time record. Lawson also improved on her third-place all-time 3,000-meter run mark at the Blazer Invitational two weeks ago.
 
Connor Smith moved into fourth-place all-time in the men’s indoor heptathlon after completing the final three events on Thursday. Smith’s point total of 4,658 came after finishing eighth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.11, 722 points), third in the pole vault (4.55m/14-11, 775 pts.) and seventh in the 1,000-meter run (3:01.53, 649 pts.). Ashton Krause finished eighth overall with 4,467 points and Mikel Magnusson took 11^th on a total of 4,021 points.
 
Briana Aiken notched two third-place finishes on Thursday in the long jump and pole vault. Her long jump measure of 5.75m (18-10.50) led fellow Jaguar Erikka Williams’s eighth-place performance of 5.54m (18-02.25), and her pole vault of 3.40m (11-01.75) was an indoor career-best.
 
Latifah Johnson, who broke the USA women’s weight throw record at the Blazer Invitational, took third in the event on Thursday with a 16.68m (54-08.75) toss to accompany a seventh-place shot put mark of 12.16m (39-10.75). Bobbie Williamson took fourth in the shot put (13.16m/43-02.25) and sixth in the weight throw (15.77m/51-09.00) – a personal-best mark.
 
Johnnie Borries finished fifth in the field-event shot put on a 12.29m (40-04.00) mark after recording a 3,444 point total in the women’s indoor pentathlon on Wednesday to move to third on USA’s all-time list.
 
The Lady Jag women’s distance medley team of Lawson, Mary Finn, Kendra Lowe and Shannen Weyer claimed second place, clocking a 12:18.72, while the men’s medley regime of Daniel Cooper, Justin Housley, Alex Shields and Derek Westbrook took third (10:53.16).
 
The men’s 4x400-meter relay team of Tyler Agee, Spencer Anderson, Garrett Schumacher and Graphenreed finished third in a time of 3:21.06.
 
William Henley and Taylor Krause finished seventh and eight in the pole vault on marks of 4.30m (14-01.25) and 4.15m (13-07.25), respectively.
 
Full meet results can be found here.
 
The Jaguars will return to action on Feb. 4 when the team travels to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to participate in the MTSU Invitational.
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Seasons tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).