ATLANTA – Jan-Louw Kotze led the University of South Alabama men's and women's track and field teams this weekend at Georgia Tech's Yellow Jacket Invitational, posting a pair of victories in throwing events. 

Kotze earned a first-place finish in the men's shot put with a throw of 16.09m, recording a new season best mark, while competing in the discus throw at a secondary site he won the event with a throw of 53.25m. The Discus was being held at Emory's meet due to the facility at Georgia Tech not being ready for competition. 

"Jan-Louw is making good progress," said Jaguar head coach Paul Brueske. "We just made it back from Emory for the shot put. Unfortunately, we hit some traffic that had us almost miss the event back at Georgia Tech."

Daniel Fort came in second place in the men's javelin with a throw of 59.43m, and David Reinhardt placed fifth with a 57.94m distance.  In the women's javelin Barbara Rivera earned third place with a measurement of 44.82m, with Ashton Pennington in fourth place with a 40.47m mark. Sarah Petty also finished in the top 10 with a throw of 37.83m. 

Nick Farrell finished third in the men's pole vault with a 4.92m height. Ireland Armstrong and Jordan Friz tied for fourth in the women's pole vault with measurements of 3.60m.  LaMia Miller also placed seventh in the shot put with a throw of 14.00m.

"We are starting to show signs of life in a lot of events," commented Brueske on the performances of his field athletes. "We have put emphasis on the field events so it's good to see the guys doing well."

In the men's 400-meter hurdles Spencer Anderson (52.66) and Tevin Barnett (53.52) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Ashley Heitling (17:53.15) and Nicole Durham (17:56.41) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the women's 5000-meter run, with Joanna McCoy also finishing in the top 10 with a time of 17:59.57. Mark Watts competed in the 400-meter dash and placed ninth with a time of 49.21.

"Despite some cold and windy weather I thought we had some good performances," noted Brueske. "I keep seeing good things, we just need to keep doing better and step it up."

The Jaguars will be back in action April 3-4 at the Tiger Track Classic in Auburn, Ala.

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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