MOBILE, Ala. – Four individuals ranked among the top 20 in the nation in their events were among the 10 to sign National Letters-of-Intent with the University of South Alabama men's and women's track and field programs. The group, which will begin competing collegiately next fall, includes eight student-athletes who hail from Alabama.
"We are pleased with the class we signed in the early period; there are some nationally-ranked individuals in the group as well as several quality in-state student-athletes," Jaguar head coach Paul Brueske stated. "Plus, we signed some kids that we feel will develop into solid competitors in the Sun Belt Conference. Overall, I think this is a good group with a lot of potential."
Lane Adams (Lexington [Ala.] HS) stands sixth in the country among the Class of 2015 in the javelin after recording a throw of 200-6.25 at the Steel Throwers Open last season one month after claiming the state 2A title in the event. He also placed fourth in the triple jump at the state championships in the spring with a mark of 41-8.75.
Sean Collins (McGill-Toolen HS, Mobile) ranks eighth nationally in his class in the pole vault, having cleared 16-2 to win the state 6A championship in May, and he claimed the title at the state 6A indoor meet as well earlier in the year. Collins' high school teammate, Chris Taylor, is ranked 11th in the same event with a mark of 16-0.25; he finished second at the state championships in both the decathlon in the spring and the pole vault in the winter.
Autavia Fluker (Bessemer City [Ala.] HS) has won the state 6A shot put title each of the last two seasons, with her mark of 44-5.50 earlier this season standing 20th in the nation in her class.
Taylor Young (Birmingham [Ala.] Altamont HS) is a 13-time state champion, including winning seven titles as a junior last season; she claimed the 60-meter hurdles (9.23), long (17-11.25) and triple (36-10) jumps at the indoor 1A-4A meet in the winter, then won the 100-meter (16.32) and 300-meter (48.64) hurdles as well as the long (17-00) and triple (37-4.50) jumps in May at the 2A championships.
Savannah Smith (Grant [Ala.] DAR HS) was the section champion in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes — she would place second in the latter and fourth in the former at the state 4A meet — along with the high jump, in which she ended up third in at the state championships, while Caitlyn Dressler earned the title in the pole vault at the state 3A meet last year with a height of 11-0.
Sam Brown (Birmingham [Ala.] Oak Mountain HS) won the section championship in the high jump with a 6-4 mark before going on to place seventh at the state 6A meet.
The other two members of the Jags' early signing class are Morgan Feldt (Bushnell [Fla.] South Sumter HS) and Jessie Droogsma (Gulf Breeze [Fla.] HS). Feldt has posted top-10 results in the 1,600 meters each of the last two seasons at the state 2A championships, including placing fifth in 2013 after clocking a time of 5:13.69, and Droogsma has recorded a top distance of 125-7 in the discus; she's finished among the top 10 in the event at the state's 3A meet two years in a row.
USA begins the indoor campaign Friday at the BSC Panther Indoor Invitational in Birmingham.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).