University of South Alabama Athletics

2017: Capitol One First Team Academic All-District from the College Sports Information Directors of America ...  Named 2017 Sun Belt Postgraduate Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year Award, earning a $6,500 scholarship toward his postgraduate education ... Indoor — Placed 6th in the Sun Belt Conference Championship's men's weight throw with a mark of 17.44m and 10th in men's shot put with a 14.59-meter toss  ... Placed second in the men's weight throw with a season-best 17.82-meter showing at the Samford Invitational ... Placed second in the men's weight throw (17.31m) and third in the men's shot put (14.95m) at the UAB Invitational ... 


2016: Outdoor — Earned first-team All-American honors Friday with a sixth-place finish in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championship...Was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship...Finished sixth at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries; opened with a mark of 58.52m, ending the first round in sixth place, never falling out of the top 10 final throw was 59.20m...entered the region meet as the third seed in the discipline with a 62.11m mark recorded at the Pepsi Florida Relays that was then fourth in the country...Won the men's discuss for the SBC Championship for the fourth consecutive year with a mark of 58.52m...His 62.11m mark recorded at the Florida Relays marked the best in the league and ranked third in the nation...Finished seventh at the Triton Invitational with a mark of 61.75m... Placed first in discus at the South Alabama Invitational with a 59.19m throw...Placed third in Auburn's Tiger Track Classic with a throw in men's discus of 60.51m; added a season best 15.82 in shot for a top-10 placing...won the men's discus with a 57.33m throw at the Louisiana Classic... Won men's shot put with a15.24 mark at the Jaguar Classic... Indoor  —  Finished eighth in men's shot put with a 16.10m mark at the SBC Indoor Championship...Placed sixth in the weight throw with a 16.70m throw and seventh in show put with a distance of 15.52m...

2015: Outdoor — Was an honorable mention All-American in the discus, finishing 20th at the NCAA Championship ... Placed seventh at the NCAA East Regional Prelimiary Round with a mark of 58.83m ... Won the event at the Sun Belt Conference Championship with a 59.72m toss, finishing third in the hammer throw (60.88m) and fourth in the shot put (16.34m) ... Was all-league in the discus and hammer throw, with all three marks at the meet the best of his career ... Earned five wins in the discuss during the season, including at Auburn's Tiger Track Classic with a distance of 59.15m ... Had a 57.34m mark to come in third at the John Mitchell Alabama Relays ... Earned seventh-place finish with a throw of 57.00m at the Mt. SAC Relays ... Won the shot put at Georgia Tech's Yellow Jacket Invitational (16.09m), the South Alabama Invitational (15.92m) and the Jaguar Opener, and was second in the event at the Southern Miss Invitational (15.91m) ... Also had five top-10 performances in the hammer throw ... Indoor — Recorded career-best marks in the shot put (16.19m) and weight throw (15.46m) at the league championship, finishing sixth in the former ... Was the winner of the shot put at the BSC Panther Indoor Invitational after posting a 15.27m distance ... Finished fourth in the discipline at bothe the UAB Vulcan Invite (15.48m) and the Samford Invitational (15.60m) ... Placed in the top 10 in the weight throw at Samford and Birmingham-Southern as well.

2014: Outdoor — Just missed qualifying for the national championship in the discus after coming in 13th place in the event at the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round with a 57.03m mark ... Was the winner in the shot put at the Sun Belt Championship, recording a distance of 56.20m, and finishing sixth in the hammer throw with a season-best 56.85m mark ... Earned victory in the discus at the Jaguar Opener with a season-best throw of 58.41m, adding wins in the event on four other occasions including at the both the Tiger Classic (55.25m) and War Eagle Invitational hosted by Auburn ... Had 56.07m mark in the discus to finish second at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, and was sixth at the Alabama Relays ... Finished fourth in the shot put with season-best mark of 16.12m at the South Alabama Invitational, placing in the top 10 at four other meets ... Added four other top-10 performances in the hammer throw, finishing a season-best third at the USA Invitational after posting a mark of 55.57m ... Indoor — Best mark of the season in the shot put (15.13m) came at the SBC Championship ... Had season-best distance of 15.12m in the weight throw at the Panther Icebreaker for an eight-place result ... Placed seventh in the shot put at that meet ... Also competed in both disciplines at the Arkansas State and Southern Miss Invitationals.

2013: Outdoor — Won the discus (52.12m) and finished fifth in the shot put (13.95m) and hammer throw (44.44m) in his collegiate debut...Placed second in the discus (52.09m) and 10th in the shot put (14.18m) at the Samford Invitational...Set a new USA record in the discus throw with a 57.60m hurl at the Jaguar Invitational...Won the discus throw (55.10m) and placed sixth in the hammer throw (47.29m) at the USA Invitational...Captured first place in the discus (53.57m) at the War Eagle Invitational...Won top honors in the discus (54.49m) while finishing ninth in the hammer throw (46.59m) at the Coach “O” Invitational...Earned all-conference honors with a first-place finish in the discus throw (54.90m) at the SBC Championships...Placed 15th overall in the discus throw (53.51m) at the East Region preliminary round of the NCAA Championships.

High School: Lettered four years in track and field...Placed fifth at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France in 2011.

Personal: Son of Pieter and Erika Kotze...Has one older sister...Favorite movie is Forrest Gump...Favorite book is The Bible...Favorite pro teams are Manchester United, Western Province (rugby), and the New York Giants...Favorite athletes are Gerd Kanter and Robert Harding.

Major: Exercise Science