Paul Brueske enters his 19th season with South Alabama’s track & field program and his 18th season as head coach for both programs. Since taking the reins of both the men’s and women’s programs in 2009, Brueske has turned South Alabama into one of the top teams in the Sun Belt Conference and has proven the Jaguars can succeed on the national level.
Under Brueske’s direction, the Jaguars have produced two NCAA Individual National Champions in the past two seasons, 252 total All-Sun Belt performers, and 110 student-athletes have participated in the NCAA East Regionals, with eight athletes having competed in the NCAA Championship in the last two seasons. Brueske’s men’s teams have claimed two Sun Belt Outdoor Titles in the past three seasons, and he has been named Sun Belt Outdoor Men’s Coach of the Year twice (2022 & 2024), while also being named Women’s Coach of the Year in 2016.
In 2025, head coach Brueske guided South Alabama Track & Field to an impressive campaign that featured conference titles, record-breaking performances, and continued national recognition. The Jaguars earned three Sun Belt individual championships—led by Kyle Rademeyer, who captured the indoor pole vault title with a record-breaking clearance of 5.73m (18-9.5”), setting new school, meet, and conference records. Rademeyer would also go on to take part in his eighth overall NCAA Championships, placing fifth overall in the pole vault to receive All-American honors. Kendal White added another gold for the Jaguars in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking a school-record 50.02 seconds to win the Sun Belt Outdoor Championship. Reuben Booysen rounded out the title sweep with a dominant performance in the men’s javelin, throwing 68.46m (224-7) to claim his first career conference crown.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Brueske assisted Francois Prinsloo and Kyle Rademeyer in two of the best seasons in South Alabama Athletics history. Prinsloo earned an Olympic qualifying mark of 67.26 meters (220’8”) at the Southern Miss Open and would compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for his home country, South Africa. After claiming two conference titles at the Sun Belt Championships, Prinsloo clinched the NCAA East Regionals Championship for the third time before moving on to dominate the NCAA National Championships. He led from start to finish by recording the top three throws in the entire competition in his first three attempts. He started the evening by launching a monstrous toss of 61.92 meters (203’3”) before improving to 62.19 meters (204’0”). Prinsloo put the nail in the coffin with his third throw, launching a throw of 63.51 meters (208’4”).
In 2023, Kyle Rademeyer had a phenomenal season for the Jaguars, claiming the National Title in the pole vault using a dramatic third-bar clearance to stay alive before clearing 5.70 meters (18’8.25”) at the NCAA National Championships in Austin, Texas. This came after an electric season where Rademeyer claimed his third straight Sun Belt Championship and an Olympic qualifying standard of 5.82 meters (19’1”). Following his national crown, Rademeyer went on to place 63rd at the World Championships in Budapest.
Additionally, Brueske has maintained consistency in the Sun Belt Conference, which features elite track and field talent throughout. Brueske led the Jags to a dominant win at the 2024 Sun Belt Championships as they finished with 143 total points, four individual conference crowns, two facility and meet records, eight runner-ups, and 12 total All-SBC performers to claim the title.
South Alabama claimed its first Men’s Sun Belt Title in program history in 2022. The Jags finished with 148.3 points, six Sun Belt crowns, one facility record, and nearly 15 All-SBC performers.
Since the spring of 2011, 37 individuals have advanced to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships on 22 occasions, with Kyle Rademeyer, Kirami Yego, Francois Prinsloo, Angel Maguad, Renaldo Frechou, Lindsay Schwartz, Sean Collins, and Emilie Berge earning All-American honors multiple times. Jan-Lou Kotze earned first-team All-American honors in 2016, while Kaitlyn Beans received second-team All-American accolades that same season. Autavia Fluker and Francois Prinsloo earned second-team All-American honors in 2021 with record-breaking performances at the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
Brueske was honored in 2016 as the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Coach of the Year—the first of his career—after leading the Jaguars to their first-ever outright conference championship as the South Alabama women’s track and field team took home the team title at the outdoor championship.
Since Brueske’s arrival, Jaguar student-athletes have set 74 school records while breaking nine league standards and two NCAA East Regional records.
In throwing events, South has claimed 35 individual titles at the Sun Belt Championships. Every school record except for the men’s javelin has been broken during Brueske’s tenure. Additionally, South Alabama's men have claimed the discus SBC Championship 11 times and have had an all-conference performer 15 times.
Throughout his career, he has produced Sun Belt Champions in every throwing event for both genders. He has led 15 Sun Belt individual champions in throwing events, including: Reuben Booysen (javelin, 2025), Prinsloo (discus, 2021, 2023, 2024), Sebastian Loschner (indoor shot put, 2023; outdoor shot put, 2023, 2022), Colette Uys (indoor shot put, 2023; outdoor shot put, 2023), Bodine Degli Umberti (weight throw, 2023; discus, 2023), Rickssen Opont (indoor shot put, 2020; outdoor shot put, 2021), Michaela Preachuck (weight throw, 2018; hammer, 2018-19), Fluker (indoor shot put, 2019-20; outdoor shot put, 2019; hammer throw, 2021), Hanna-Mai Vaikla (javelin, 2018), Frechou (hammer, 2014-16), Leah Hixon (javelin, 2014), Kotze (discus, 2013-15), Angela McCord (javelin, 2010), Joey Torres (discus, 2010-12; hammer, 2011; weight throw, 2011), and Bobbie Williamson (hammer, 2013).
A highlight of one of Brueske’s recruiting classes, Autavia Fluker was named to the NCAA All-American team in 2021. She won three Sun Belt Conference Championships in two events—shot put and hammer throw—over three years with the program. The seven-time All-Sun Belt selection and two-time Sun Belt Most Outstanding Field Performer broke multiple program records, including her own, in the hammer throw (70.02m/229-08) and shot put (16.22m/53-02.75) events. Fluker set an NCAA record with her 70.02m hammer throw, which qualified her for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials. She went on to finish 11th in the Olympic Trials Finals in Eugene, Ore., in the summer of 2021.
A remnant of Brueske’s first recruiting class at the university, Schwartz was a three-time NCAA All-American, a USTFCCCA Division I Academic All-American, a three-time SBC outdoor heptathlon and two-time indoor pentathlon champion, the 2011 SBC Most Outstanding Female Field Performer, and the 2011-12 USA Female Student-Athlete of the Year. After posting a then-school-record 5,606 points in the heptathlon at the Texas Relays, Schwartz qualified to compete at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., where she set a new school record with 5,614 points through seven total events for 14th overall.
In all, 42 Jaguars have qualified for the NCAA regional round in the throws events, with eight advancing to the national championships. Prinsloo earned first-team and second-team All-American accolades, Loschner earned All-American honorable mention accolades, and Fluker earned second-team All-American honors in her first postseason appearance, which was followed by a U.S. Olympic Trials Finals appearance. Frechou picked up first-team All-American accolades after finishing seventh in his first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, then improved the following season by finishing fifth, while Torres—a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico—set a national record in the discus with a mark of 56.23m that also broke the Sun Belt record. Kotze was a first-team All-American in 2016, placing fifth in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Jaguars have experienced academic success under Brueske’s watch as well. South has been named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team on eight occasions, while the Jags have received the team award for the highest grade-point average in the Sun Belt, including sweeping honors for both women and men during the 2014-15 academic year. A total of 22 individuals have received all-academic recognition from the USTFCCCA, and Kotze became the first member of the men’s program to be named Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America and was awarded the Elite 90 Award as the top student-athlete GPA at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The men’s team has won top academic Sun Belt honors for the best men’s track team GPA three consecutive years (2015-17).
Formerly the head coach of the boys’ track program at St. Paul’s Episcopal High School in Mobile, Ala., Brueske led the team to back-to-back Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 5A outdoor state championships in 2006 and 2007. The Saints were also the 2007 indoor champions. Additionally, 15 student-athletes earned individual state titles during his tenure.
Prior to his arrival at St. Paul’s High, Brueske worked with the UMS-Wright Preparatory track & field program in Mobile, helping the Bulldogs to three consecutive state high school championships in both the girls’ and boys’ divisions. At UMS-Wright, he primarily coached the field events and worked with 15 individual 4A state champions in the throws, high jump, and pole vault. He helped UMS-Wright athletes establish new school records in the pole vault, javelin, and shot put. Brueske was also an assistant with the UMS-Wright varsity football team that compiled a 38-4 record and won the 2002 4A state championship.
Brueske spent two seasons (2000-02) as the field events coach at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. At Ferris State, he produced 14 NCAA qualifiers, three All-Americans, and 22 all-conference performers. As an assistant coach, Brueske was in charge of recruiting and coaching all field event athletes. He also helped design strength training programs for the Ferris State golf, hockey, and volleyball programs.
A native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., Brueske began coaching at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, where he spent three seasons. As the assistant head coach, Brueske helped build McGill-Toolen into a 6A county and sectional champion.
A 1998 graduate of South Alabama, where he was a member of the track team, Brueske holds USA Track & Field Level II certification in the throwing, jumping, and combined events. He is a certified specialist in Sports Conditioning by the International Sports Science Association, a USA (Olympic) Weightlifting Certified Club Coach, and a USA Track & Field Level I Instructor. He worked for five years as a strength coach for the tennis program at the University of South Alabama. He is a member of the Optimist Club of Mobile and has been named a Certified Throws Specialist and Strength & Conditioning Specialist by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He is also a USAW Certified Sports Performance Coach, a USTFCCCA Certified Track and Field Technical Coach, and he formerly served as Coaches Education Chairman for the state of Alabama.
