MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's and women's track and field teams will compete in the 2019 Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field Championship Monday and Tuesday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

MEET INFORMATION
Event: 2019 Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field Championship
Date: Feb. 18-19
Host: Sun Belt Conference
Site: Birmingham CrossPlex
ESPN Coverage Day 1 | Day 2

FIELD (12)
Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Little Rock, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy, ULM, UT Arlington

NOTES
General
-The Jaguars return seven 2018 Sun Belt all-conference honorees, including Hanna-Mai Vaikla. The Tallinn, Estonia native was voted the 2018 Women's Indoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
-Forty-eight Jaguars will travel to Birmingham for the conference championship.
-Competition will begin each day at 9 a.m. with the heptathlon.
 
Men's Track
-Larry Lombard's 800m time of 1:52.46 at Samford's Bulldog Invite was the fourth-fastest in the Jaguar record books and the second-best in the league in 2019.
-Onesmus Kemboi picked up the second-best 5,000m time of the season (15:00.59) at the Vanderbilt Indoor. USA recorded the third-fastest 4 x 400m relay time in the conference this year with a 3:17.51 mark at the same meet.
-Hunter Appling's 8.17-second 60m hurdles effort at the Vanderbilt Indoor ranked fourth in the Sun Belt standings and tied for seventh in the all-time Jaguar record books.
-Sophomore Thad Porter tied for ninth in the conference 60m this season after a 6.91-second clocking at UAB's Blazer Invitational. The time is the seventh-best in USA program history. Senior Alex Elam recorded a personal-best 6.97-second effort in the event at the Jaguar Invitational to take 10th in the school records.    
-Warno Potgieter ranks among the top 10 in the Sun Belt 1 mile listings after crossing the line in 4:15.29 at the Jaguar Invitational.
-Four of USA's top 10 200m times were recorded this season. Elam and Keith Davis covered the distance in 22.03 seconds and 22.29 seconds, respectively, at the Jaguar Invitational. D.J. Taylor and Jalen Boyd's season-best performances of 22.45 seconds and 22.49 seconds, respectively, came at Samford's Bulldog Invite.
 
Women's Track
-Cierra Hedrick's 7.68-second time in the UAB Blazer Invitational 60m tied for 10th on the Sun Belt performance list.
-Carolien Millenaar ran the 3,000m in 10:13.48 at the Jaguar Invitational. The time ranks ninth in the league this season.
 
Men's Field
-Sophomore Christian Ellis set a new USA triple jump standard and leads the Sun Belt with a 15.50m (50-10.25) mark at the Jaguar Invitational. Porter's 14.20m (46-07.25) jump at the UAB Blazer Invitational is the ninth-longest in the league this season.
-Graham Collins scored 5,122 points in the LSU Bayou Bengal Invitational heptathlon, breaking the Jaguar record and leading the league on his first collegiate attempt.
-Four Jaguars hold spots in the season's top-10 conference pole vault rankings. Noah Mumme (4.80m (15-09.00)) and Chris Taylor's (4.65m (15-03.00)) best performances came at the Vanderbilt Indoor. Mumme's mark is eighth in the school records. Connor Allred recorded a 4.62m (15-01.75) effort at the Jaguar Invitational, while Collins cleared 4.50m (14-09.00) at LSU's Bayou Bengal Invitational.
-Senior Jobi Finau recorded a 17.82m (58-05.75) weight throw mark at the Jaguar Invitational to land at sixth in the Sun Belt standings.
-Thomas Boyd earned a spot in the conference top-10 with a 15.93m (52-03.25) shot put throw at the Bulldog Invite.
-Freshman Harry Barthelemy's 2.00m (6-06.75) high jump mark at UAB's Blazer Invitational tied for fifth in program history.
 
Women's Field
-Autavia Fluker tops the Sun Belt performance list in the shot put and weight throw categories. The sophomore set a new Jaguar shot put record with a 15.44m (50-08.00) throw at the Vanderbilt Indoor and had an 18.50m (60-08.50) weight throw mark at the Bulldog Invite. The weight performance ranks as the third-best in South Alabama history.
-Emilie Berge's score of 3,970 points in the LSU Bayou Bengal Invitational pentathlon leads the conference this season and is second on the all-time Jaguar performance list. The junior's high jump (1.73m (5-08.00)) and long jump (5.71m (18-09.00)) marks from the event rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Sun Belt.
-Seniors Olivia Swan and Taylor Dames rank second and eighth, respectively, in the league's high jump standings. Swan's 1.74m (5-08.50) mark came at the Jaguar Invitational, while Dames cleared 1.69m (5-06.50) at the UAB Blazer Invitational.
-Michaela Preachuk won the 2018 Sun Belt Indoor Championship weight throw event with a 19.44m (63-09.50) mark that was the longest in the conference that season and the best in school history. She currently ranks fourth on the league performance list with an 18.22m (59-09.50) mark from UAB's Blazer Invitational.
-Angeline Smit's 13.78m (45-02.50) shot put throw at the Samford Bulldog Invite is fifth in the Sun Belt season standings.  
-Vaikla scored 3,502 points in the LSU Bayou Bengal Invitational pentathlon, third on this year's conference performance list. The sophomore finished third in the event at the 2018 conference meet. 
-Savannah Howie cleared 3.50m (11-05.75) in the Samford Bulldog Invite pole vault and is eighth in the league rankings.

QUOTES FROM COACH BRUESKE
On the regular season: "We've had some good things happen. I'm hoping we can put it all together at the conference meet and compete the way we're capable of. If we do that, I think we should be pretty competitive."
 
On practices before the meet: "We've had some good sessions. We've got a few people looking really good right now. We just need them to step up at the meet Monday and Tuesday. We've got a couple student-athletes who are out with a little illness right now. Hopefully they'll be ready to roll when it counts."
 
On standout performances: "Autavia Fluker has been working extremely hard. She put in a lot of hard work over the Christmas break and it's showing right now. Emilie Berge has done fantastic. She's a little sick right now; she's got the flu. Hopefully she'll be feeling better by the meet and we'll go from there." 

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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