GULF SHORES, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's track team claimed the title at the South Alabama Invitational, which concluded Saturday at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium, with the Jaguar women's squad placing third.

USA's finished the weekend with a total of 227 points, 72 ahead of second-place Louisiana-Lafayette, while the women recorded 144 points to finish 28 behind Troy; both fields included six schools, with four from the Sun Belt Conference. 

"It was a good day. The thing we emphasize is self-improvement and improvement from week to week; it has worked well for us," said Jag head coach Paul Brueske. "I thought the guys did well. They competed hard, which is exactly what we are looking for."

In men's field events, Renaldo Frechou won the hammer throw with a mark of 66.90m. Zach Blahnik, Jan-Louw Kotze and Andrew Allen also competed in the event finishing third, fourth and sixth with distances of 59.88m, 59.06m and 52.78m, respectively. Kotze's mark was a career-best, placing him fifth on the school's all-time performance list. 

The men finished in the first three spots in the discus; Kotze won the event by over 11 meters with a throw of 57.90m while Matt Weinhold took second with a distance of 46.20m followed by Blahnik in third with a season-best mark of 45.69m. Kotze also placed second in the shot put with a throw of 15.92m, with Blahnik coming in fourth with a season-best distance of 14.76m and Weinhold in eighth with a mark of 13.84m.

The men also were victorious in the 1,500-meter run with Justin Housley taking first with a career-best 3:51.80. Five additional Jaguars placed in the top 10 in the event: Robert Mann finished third at 3:59.41, Joe Gratton was fourth with a time of 4:01.27, Cameron Ellis placed fifth with 4:02.06, Michael Remich took eighth with a time of 4:11.80 and Daniel Carter earned ninth with 4:12.19.

Nicole Durham earned first place in the women's 1,500-meter run with a clocking of 4:50.18, while Ivy Chastain placed fourth with a career-best time of 4:53.76. 

Mann won the men's 800-meter run as well with a time of 1:55.72, followed by Buddy Soto in fifth with a career-best mark of 1:58.55 and Gratton in sixth clocking in at 1:59.03. Laura Labuschaigne took fourth for the women with a time of 2:17.00.

Both the women and men claimed the first two spots in the 400-meter hurdles. Marina Swanepoel finished first with a time of 1:03.49 and was followed by Berta Lucas, who clocked in at 1:04.35. Tevin Barnett won the men's division with mark of 53.80, while Spencer Anderson took second at 54.30.  Lucas won the women's 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.31, with Tasha Russell finishing third with a 14.96 clocking, and Jazmyne Tabb sixth with a career-best time of 16.81.

LaMia Miller started the meet on Friday by placing second with a career-best mark of 14.90m in the shot put, also setting a school record. Jasmine Ferguson placed sixth in the event with a career-best distance of 12.45m. Miller took second in the hammer throw with a mark of 50.04m as well, just 0.24m behind the winner, with Megan Hall, Morgan Jones and Phoebe Dowson claiming fourth, fifth and sixth with distances of 47.95m, 47.76m and 45.79m, respectively. In the discus, Dowson earned second place with a mark of 47.86m, followed by Jones in third place with a career-best throw of 47.01m

"There were a lot of great performances out there," said Brueske. "Jan-Louw in the discus, Renaldo in the hammer, and I thought Morgan did well in the discus with a personal best. And LaMia is continuing to make progress. She broke another school record, which is exactly what we need."

Finishing second and third in the pole vault were Nick Farrell and Niel Giliomee, both recording heights of 4.95m. 

In the men's 100-meter dash, Rafael Scott finished second with a time of 11.16 seconds, followed by Matthew Dillon in fifth clocking a time of 11.19. Michael Smith earned fourth in the men's 200-meter dash with a mark of 22.69, while Tabb placed sixth for the women with a time of 26.63.

David Reinhardt threw a career-best 59.52m in the javelin, taking fourth while also moving to fourth on the school's all-time performance list. The Jaguars claimed the next three spots with Daniel Fort in fifth with a mark of 57.25m, Charles Collins placing sixth with a career-best 56.59m and Andrew Allen finishing seventh with a career-best 56.53m. 

In the women's triple jump, Kriszti Szabo placed fourth with a distance of 11.44m, followed by Ariel Johnson in sixth with 11.31m.; Szabo earned another fourth-place mark in the long jump with a career-best distance of 5.46m. Jasmine Ferguson finished fourth in the heptathlon with a total of 4,336 points. 

In the women's pole vault, Ireland Armstrong placed fifth with a height of 3.65m, while Kayla Carlile rounded out the top 10 with a season-best mark of 3.50m. Ashton Pennington finished sixth in the women's javelin with a season-best throw of 40.69m, while Sarah Petty took eighth with a distance of 39.15m. 

USA finished third in the men's 4x100-meter relay with a time of 42.73 seconds, the team consisting of Smith, Watts, Barnett and Scott. Ian Bordelon took fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:00.74.

Three men placed in the top-five in the men's 400-meter dash; Mark Watts finished second with a career-best mark of 47.06 seconds, moving him to third on the school's all-time performance list for the event, while Smith and Trey Clarkson both recorded season-best times of 48.82 and 49.62 earning third and fourth places, respectively. In the women's 400-meter dash, Sara Jernfalt placed sixth clocking a time of 1:00.84. 

Phillip Friedlander finished fourth in the men's 3,000-meter run with a career-best time of 9:17.17, over six seconds faster than his previous best. 

The Jaguars in the day with the 4x400-meter relay. The men's team made up of Clarkson, Anderson, Barnett and Watts won with a time of 3:15.53, over seven seconds ahead of second place. The women's team consisting of Swanepoel, Jernfalt, Armstrong and Jordan Friz took third place with a time of 4:03.84. 

"It was a good meet for us," Brueske said. "We've got a few people right now that are questionable injury wise that we've got to get back for us to make a run at the conference championship. But I think if we can get them back, then we have a chance."

The Jags return to action next weekend with individuals at two different events.  The Mount Sac Relays will be held in Walnut, Calif., Thursday through Sunday, while Auburn's War Eagle Invitational will be conducted on Friday and Saturday.

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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