Men Travel to Tuscaloosa for Alabama Relays
March 19, 2004 | Men's Track and Field
March 19, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's track and field team returns to action this weekend when the Cardinals travel to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama Relays. The four-day event began Thursday with the decathlon competition. The decathlon continues Friday along with the 10,000-meter run before the remainder of the events taking place on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 30 schools and clubs will compete in the annual event at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Complex. The venue is located on Hackberry Lane adjacent to the Coleman Coliseum. Live results will be available at http://www.flashresults.com/alabamarelays/2004/index.htm.
Last Time Out...Cardinals Set Nine Personal Records at Ben Brown
Sophomore Arthur Turland broke the school javelin record and nine other personal records at the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton, Calif.
The Cardinals won three events on the day, the most by any of the 25-plus schools and clubs competing in the meet.
The 4x100-meter (41.72) and 4x400-meter (3:16.05) relay teams had comfortable wins in their events. Strong anchor legs by freshman Ronnie Stringer in the 4x100 and sophomore Jonathan Combs in the 4x400 helped the Cardinals to victories.
Senior Josh Gentry won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 9:18.6 to win by more than 30 meters.
The team's throwers continued to lead the way despite not having a win to their credit. The group garnered six personal records and one NCAA Regional qualifying mark to go along with the school record. Five other throws were within two meters of the NCAA Regional standard.
In his first attempt at competing in the javelin at the collegiate level, Turland finished second with a throw of 192 feet, 11 inches, shattering the school's previous mark by 10 feet. Turland also had personal records in two other events as he finished fourth in the discus with an NCAA qualifying mark of 174-8 and fifth in the hammer throw with a distance of 178-5.
Sophomore Brandon Cook placed fifth in the discus with a personal-best mark of 166-4, just two feet from the NCAA mark.
In the hammer throw, senior Joe Swiderski was sixth at 177-1 and senior Josh Brannen was seventh at 176-0, both personal records.
Combs won his section of the 200-meter dash with a personal-best mark of 21.74, the ninth fastest time of the day. Senior Ryan Bridgeman had a PR in the race with a time of 22.21 to place 17th overall. Senior Dennis Wolff finished fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.87.
The team's distance runners also fared well as freshman Wes Seacat qualified for the USA Junior Nationals with a 5000-meter time of 14:54.31 and sophomore Tim Kaiser ran a personal-best time of 15:08.54 in the race.
"We expected this meet to fit us very well, and we expected to get good performances from it," said head coach Gene Weis. "We've now got 5-6 guys on the very brink of NCAA Regional qualifying, and we'll have any number of guys near the top of our Conference rankings. We've accomplished what we hoped with these early meets out west, setting a very positive tone for the year. If we can stay healthy and keep our guys focused, we'll achieve everything we thought we could and then some before it's all over."
Turland Qualifies for NCAA Regional in Discus; Close in Two Others
Sophomore Arthur Turland improved his NCAA Mid-East Regional qualifying mark in the discus last weekend when he threw 174-8 at the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton, Calif.
Turland originally met the mark at the season-opening Carl Rossi Relays with a mark of 169-5. This marks the second straight year he has qualified in the event.
The Kincardine, Ontario, native is close to qualifying in the hammer throw and javelin as well, which would make him one of the few (if not the only) athletes to qualify in all three events. He is less than two meters off the hammer mark and three off the javelin.
Turland Sets School Record Javelin
In his first attempt at competing in the javelin at the collegiate level, sophomore Arthur Turland set the school record with a throw of 192-11 at the Ben Brown Invitational. The mark shatters the school's previous mark by 10 feet.
Seacat Qualifies for USA Junior Nationals in 5000m
Freshman Wes Seacat qualified for the USA Junior Nationals with a 5000-meter time of 14:54.31 at the Ben Brown Invitational. Seacat placed third at the Conference USA Cross Country Championships this past fall.
