MOBILE, Ala. — Six South Alabama track and field athletes earned individual All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2013-14 season, and the Jaguars’ women’s team was named an All-Academic Team.
All six individual honorees also earned All-Sun Belt Conference recognition in their events this season. Jan-Louw Kotze, Connor Smith, Leah Hixon and Kaitlyn Beans each set school records in their events.
Women’s Team Honored
The South Alabama women’s team finished the year with a combined grade-point average of 3.29, above the 3.00 minimum required for All-Academic Team status.
Men’s Honorees
Kotze, Smith and Patrick Rohr were among 496 men from 165 institutions to receive individual honors.
- Jan-Louw Kotze carries a 4.0 GPA in exercise science after his sophomore year. He advanced to the NCAA preliminaries in the discus for the second straight season and finished one spot short of qualifying for the national championship meet.
- Connor Smith earned the honor for the second consecutive year with a 3.48 GPA. The senior graduated with a degree in engineering and finished 35th overall in the pole vault in the regional preliminary round.
- Patrick Rohr, a sophomore engineering major, posted a 3.39 GPA and placed 44th at the regional competition.
Women’s Honorees
Hixon, Beans and Bobbie Williamson were among 727 women from 193 schools to be recognized.
- Leah Hixon led the Jaguars’ honorees with a 3.85 GPA. A biology major, she earned her degree and the All-Academic honor for the second straight season, and she finished 25th in the javelin at regionals.
- Kaitlyn Beans posted a 3.58 GPA as a freshman biomedical sciences major. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump and placed 17th nationally.
- Bobbie Williamson completed her career with a 3.36 cumulative GPA and a degree in nursing. She finished 13th in the hammer throw at regionals, less than half a meter from qualifying for nationals.
South Alabama competes in the Sun Belt Conference.
