Final Results - 2015 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Jan-Louw Kotze became the second South Alabama men's track and field athlete to set a new league mark this weekend as the junior recorded a throw of 59.72m in the men's discus on the final day of the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships held at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.

Kotze's record-breaking throw gave him the league title in the event and passed the previous mark (58.77m) set by Raigo Toompuu of Western Kentucky at the 2005 conference meet.  Kotze held the previous South Alabama record that he set this season at the Tiger Track Classic.  Kotze joined his teammate Renaldo Frechou who set a new school and SBC record in the hammer on Saturday.  

"Jan-Louw had a tremendous weekend," Brueske commented. "He scored over twenty points for the team, set a Sun Belt Conference record and performed very well which is why we recruited him. He is developing into quite the well-rounded thrower."

In the team competition, the Jaguar men placed fourth and finished the weekend with 121.5 points.  Texas-Arlington took home the championship on the men's side with 166 points.  The South Alabama women finished in sixth place (76 points), while Arkansas State won the conference crown with 138 total points.

"We had some good performances, but we didn't have the finish that we wanted," South Alabama track and field head coach Paul Brueske.  "None the less, we had a lot of school records and Sun Belt records broken.  We also had several outstanding performances and several kids were all-conference.  The good thing moving forward is that we have the bulk of these student-athletes back on the men and women's side, plus we have a good recruiting class coming in, so I think we have a lot to look forward to in the future."

Also taking home top individual honors on Sunday for South Alabama was junior distance runner Christoph Graf won the conference title in the men's 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:39.50.

In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Matt Dillon finished in second place with a time of 14.20 seconds, earning him all-conference honors.

Kaitlyn Beans earned all-Sun Belt accolades in the women's triple jump with a distance of 12.64m.  Kristina Szabo placed sixth same event with a jump of 11.96m.  Both athletes earned the team six and three points, respectively, towards the team competition.  

In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Berta Lucas captured all-Sun Belt honors by placing third with a time of 13.86 seconds.

Mark Watts placed fourth in the 400-meter run with a time of 47.90 seconds, earning five points for the Jags.  Spencer Anderson also earned a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.54 seconds.

"We had a lot of guys that are underclassmen who had break through performances and finished all-conference," Brueske commented on the student-athletes performances.  "I think that's going to generate some excitement in these younger athletes so moving forward they will be competitive."

Marina Swanpoel finished fourth in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.08.   Lucas also competed in the even and placed seventh with a time of 1:03.91.

In the women's discus, Phoebe Dowson placed fifth with a throw of 49.48m, earning four points toward the team totals. Morgan Jones also competed and placed sixth with a throw of 48.56m.

Alivia Bryars competed in the women's 1,500-meter run and earned seventh place with a time of 4:40.16, just two seconds out of the top five.  Joanna McCoy also placed seventh in the women's 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:37.38.

"We have several athletes that are qualified for the first round of NCAA Nationals, so we are looking forward to seeing that," Brueske stated. "We have some bright spots, the league is very tough and we've just got to keep getting better to compete in this league."

The qualified Jags will return to action at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries held in Jacksonville, Fla. on May 28-30.

In the final distance event of the meet, Patrick Rohr (14:46.26) and Graf (14:56.98) placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the men's 5,000-meter run.

South Alabama's men's 4x100-meter relay team of Michael Smith, Watts, Matt Dillon, and Rafael Scott placed fifth with a time of 42.61.  The 4x400-meter relay team of Smith, Trey Clarkson, Tevin Barnett, and Watts placed sixth with a time of 3:14.21.  

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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