South Alabama’s Francois Prinsloo is a national champion in the discus after a dominant performance at the NCAA Track & Field championships in Eugene, Ore., on Friday night.

Prinsloo, a senior from Worcester, South Africa, won the title with a throw of 63.51 meters (208 feet, 4 inches), nearly two meters (and five-plus feet) better than runner-up Roquil Broderick of USC (61.77/202-8). The championship caps an historic season for Prinsloo, the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.

Prinsloo, who has qualified for the 2024 Olympic trials, set a school record in the discus with a throw of 67.20 meters (214-6 feet) at the Southern Miss Invitational. He has won the Sun Belt discus championship three straight years, and added a first-place finish in the hammer throw at the league’s Outdoor Track & Field championships in Monroe, La., last month.

It’s the second straight season South Alabama has had an individual national champion in track & field, after Kyle Rademeyer won the pole vault title in 2023. Rademeyer qualified for nationals again this year, but finished eighth.

The Jaguars have had only four national champions in any sport in school history — all in men’s track & field or cross country. Prinsloo joins a list that includes Rademeyer, Vincent Rono (1,500 meters, 2006) and the late David Kimani (cross country, 1999; indoor 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs, 2000).