NEW ORLEANS – After earning an individual victory and leading the University of South Alabama men's cross country squad to the team title in his program debut, the Jaguars' Cristoph Graf was chosen the Sun Belt Conference Male Runner of the Week Wednesday.

A senior from Chur, Grisons, Switzerland, Graf finished first in a field of 43 competitors Friday at the 40th Annual Azalea City Classic to help the Jags post a team score of 22, 30 points fewer than runner-up Louisiana-Lafayette as USA placed ahead of three SBC members and five teams overall.  With a time of 24:34.82 over the 8k course, he crossed the line nearly 25 seconds ahead of teammate Patrick Rohr as the Jaguars took three of the top four and five of the top eight spots in the race.

He's the first USA men's student-athlete to claim the award during the cross country season since Micah Tirop on Oct. 20, 2009.

The Jaguars will next be in action when the squad is split to compete in a pair of events the opening weekend of October; one group will run at the Mississippi College Watson Ford Invitational in Jackson on Oct. 3, while selected individuals will head to Arkansas' Chile Pepper Invitational the following day.

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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