Over the course of a student-athlete's collegiate career, most grow and develop on the field of competition or as a leader within their team. University of South Alabama cross country runner Warno Potgieter has certainly turned himself into one of the top male cross country runners in the Sun Belt Conference since arriving on campus three years ago, but the junior has seen the most personal growth this fall as a leader, which has helped the Jaguar men develop into a contender for next month's Sun Belt Conference Championships.

Potgieter – a native of Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa – arrived at South in time for the 2017 indoor and outdoor track seasons, and like a lot of international student-athletes, the early transition was tough for the first few months as he was away from his family who was on the other side of the globe.

However, a couple upperclassmen on the squad and eventual cross country teammates not only helped him make the transition, but also planted the seeds of leadership that eventually grew into what Potgieter is using now with the young Jaguar squad.

"My first semester, I had a few really good seniors – Katleho Dyoyi and Nate Riech – who were probably two of the best people I could've met having come over here from South Africa," Potgieter said. "They instantly took me in as one of their friends. They were both seniors and could've easily had the attitude that they didn't deal with freshmen, but they didn't. We're still friends to this day. They both played a really big role in my life and, to a certain extent, showed me how to take younger guys on the team under your wing and help them along. It's my time to pay it forward."

After recording all-conference cross country honors each of his first two seasons – third-team as a freshman and second-team as a sophomore – Potgieter has shown that he can get the job done on the course.

Now in his junior cross country season of eligibility, Potgieter and the rest of the Jaguar squad has posted one of the program's top seasons in recent memory as South won each of its first three meets and finished fourth in its regular-season finale at the Blazer Classic. Individually, Potgieter has been among the lead runners, finishing second three-times and 14th. He also was named the SBC's Male Runner of the Week for the second time in his career following a second-place finish at the Wingfoot Classic.

With eight of the 12 runners on the 2019 roster either sophomores or freshmen, Potgieter's leadership outside of competition has been even more important.

"I've just tried to be an example for the rest of my teammates," Potgieter said. "I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm always the best example, but having one person provide just a little bit of structure helps the rest of the group fall into that structured line. As human beings, I feel that we all like structure to a certain extent. If someone is able to lay down that structure then everybody else is fine with it. I always try to keep things light between the guys where we make jokes and things so that you don't take things off the track and into your social life. We try to get together away from the track and do things together. It helps with our bonding and comradery. If the team bonds, the results seem to improve."

Potgieter's leadership of the young group has also been noted by cross country head coach Parker Cowles.

"In terms of performance, Warno has led the team since his freshmen year," Cowles said. "As a young athlete there is a focus on individual performance and development, but returning athletes are increasingly tasked with leading the program.  For men, the transition from high school to college can be daunting and the training style and structure is often very different; workouts are less often, but often longer and more arduous and the overall time spent running is much greater for an athlete compared to what they did in high school.

"It helps to have successful runners that set the tone and expectations and aid in the younger athletes' transition.  Warno as an athlete leads by example; he is disciplined and attacks workouts while also taking the little things like sleep and recovery seriously.  He also holds the younger runners accountable both in their training and racing and is someone the freshmen respond and listen to. His tenacity and drive are aspects that other athletes pick up on and his level-headed mentality and approach serve to keep the freshmen on an even keel."

Potgeiter believes a couple of factors have also played a big role in the strong performance out of the group this season.

 "First of all, we've been fortunate injury wise," Potgieter said. "Last year, we had two or three of our top guys who dealt with some tough injuries. Being able to stay healthy and build our fitness has been important. A lot of our guys have picked up their mileage which is always a bonus. We have more guys who are running at a similar shape, and they work together. If one guy goes, the others follow and the pace keeps on getting better. At the end of the day, it only helps everyone when we've trained together."

While cross country and track are mostly viewed as individualized sports, there are still team elements to the sport which have also aided Potgieter and South this fall as it relates to their training and preparation for meets.

"It [the team element] is one of the main reasons we have training groups," Potgieter stated. "It would be very difficult to do every workout on your own at the same capacity that you are able to do it as a team or as a training group together. If one person doesn't feel up to standard on a day, the other guys can pull him back into the group, which helps him get through the workout. It's the same in racing; you can race individually, but racing as a group can help you up until the point in the race where athletes' different fitness phases take over. Every athlete has something that he or she specializes in. Maybe one athlete has a better 'kick' than someone, or someone is faster. Each person can give advice during training to the other on how to get better in the area where they aren't as strong and help them see another side. It's beneficial if everyone is able to feed off of each other. You can feed off of each other mentally as well. Running is a lonely sport and you're going to need people with you who are like you that share your views."

Those training sessions have been beneficial to the other members of the team as well as Potgieter, both in performance and the development of other leaders in the group.

"We conduct ourselves really well in our training sessions," Potgieter said. "We've worked well together, and to a larger extent, if I wasn't leading the group, I believe someone else would step into that role of leadership, whether it be Thomas [Sand], Onesmus [Kemboi] or Nate [Pudner]. For us, it's not a thing of one person saying something and that's how it's done; it's more of a mutual collaboration. Someone does have to take the leadership role as it relates to what we are going to start at or what pace we are going to begin with, but we also communicate with each other if the pace is a little too hard."

Potgieter's taking over the reins of leadership has helped lead to strong start to the fall for the Jaguars actually began at the end of last season.

"Since the end of last season, myself and Nate Pudner, who is also one of the leaders of our team, have taken on leadership in our training sessions and set the pace," Potgieter said. "When the pace is a little too quick, we'll communicate with one another and back off a bit, but when one of the guys feels good and wants to go, the other athletes in the group give him free range to do so; no one is resentful."

While Potgeiter was able to record a sixth-place finish at last season's conference meet and earn second-team all-league honors, the season didn't exactly end the way he envisioned. He made his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Regional meet as an individual, but due to injury, was unable to finish the race. Like many times throughout his life and career, Potgieter has tried to turn a negative into a positive and use it as personal motivation.

"I feel I learned a lot from having gone through that experience last season," he said. "Heading into each season, you always try to plan out how you are going to structure your season with your coach so you can plan out when you want to peak. I wasn't really able to do that last season. I've kind of tried to mentally use that as a driving force. [The Regional] was a bad race, but it wasn't necessarily a bad season. Next season, let's see if we can get into the top 25 at Regionals. It won't be easy, but I feel that our top four individuals are capable of finishing in the top 50 this season. Our top four runners train together as a group, and we push one another to get the best out of each other."

Along with team aspirations and goals, Potgieter wants to also add one more individual accolade to his resume before his time on the trek is done as first-team honors have alluded him thus far. And he believes that the Jaguars are in a perfect position to make a serious run at the league title this fall.

"I feel our team is in a strong position to do well at the conference meet this season," the junior said. "Our form is really good as a team right now. If we can get our fifth, sixth and seventh runners to get a little bit closer to the 26-minute mark, or have any other improvement from one of our top four runners, we can be even stronger. I truly believe that we are capable of finishing top three as a team at conference."

In order for that to happen, the young runners on the team will be counted on, and like was done to him during the early stages of his career, Potgieter has tried to provide that guidance as the leader of the squad.

"I've tried not to be too hard on the freshmen on this team," Potgieter said. "I've tried to also get them involved with some social events with our group, have good conversations with them and if they've had questions about running, I've just tried to give them the best advice that I can. At the end of the day, if they get better, you get better because you're training with one another. I like being able to work with our younger guys. There are a few guys on our team that I feel are going to be really good in the future."

As far as what advice he's planning on giving to the young group as they head to the Sun Belt Championships, Potgieter said it's simple.

"They just need to stay calm during the race and be persistent in what they are doing. They need to stay focused, calm, and relaxed during the race, trust in themselves and believe in the fitness that they have. I feel they haven't reached their full potential this season, and they are going to run even faster. Caleb [Smith] and Lance [Cunigan] have really progressed as the season has gone on. They have both significantly picked up their workload and I like their attitude around the team. It's always a positive thing for me to see, not only as a team leader, but just one of the guys on the team."

Potgeiter's leadership won't end when his running days are over either as he plans to get into coaching.

"After I finish my undergrad, I want to try to get a master's degree in sports management and then eventually become a middle distance coach," Potgieter said. "I want to coach at an NCAA program and it doesn't matter whether it's DI, DII or DIII. I just want to start getting experience from another coach and other programs. From there, we'll see where it goes. Life doesn't always work out the way you plan it, but it would be nice if I was able to get into the collegiate coaching system."

If things stay on course, Potgieter very well might be leading South Alabama to its first male team title since 2014 and the ninth overall for the program when the Jaguars compete at the Sun Belt Conference Championships at Nash Farm Battlefield Park in Hampton, Ga., on Saturday (Nov. 2).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Finish Line Club, the track and field and cross country specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All donations to the Finish Line Club go directly to support the South Alabama track and field/cross country programs.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/finishlineclub

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