Seven Cardinal Athletes to Compete at NCAA Outdoor Championships

June 5, 2006

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's and women's track and field program will have a school record seven athletes competing in eight events at the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Championships scheduled for June 7-10 at A.G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif.

The Cards' school record number of national championship qualifiers includes four men's athletes in five events and three women's athletes in three events.

"This is the first real national exposure for the University of Louisville track and field program with our coaching staff," said U of L head coach Ron Mann, in his second season at the helm of the Cards. "We feel like we have a number of athletes in position to score points, so we're looking for a successful competition."

The national championship meet will begin for the Cards on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. ET as freshman Tone Belt will compete in the qualifying round of the men's high jump. Wednesday's schedule will also feature senior Kelley Bowman in the women's high jump qualifying (10 p.m.), junior Arthur Turland in the men's discus qualifying (10 p.m.), Belt in the men's long jump qualifying (10:15 p.m.) and junior Wesley Korir in the semifinals of the 5,000-meter run (11:30 p.m.).

On Thursday, U of L will have junior Emily Turland competing in the women's hammer qualifying (2 p.m.) and freshman Heather Trimiew in the first round of the 400-meter hurdles (7:10 p.m.), while the finals of the men's long jump will begin at 9:30 p.m. ET. The final qualifying event for the Cards will be the men's triple jump featuring freshman Andre Black on Friday (6 p.m.), while the remaining finals are set for Friday and Saturday.

"At the beginning of the outdoor season, our goals for the men's and women's teams were to have 40 BIG EAST Championship qualifiers, 15 NCAA Mideast Regional qualifiers, five NCAA Championship qualifiers and two All-Americans," Mann said. "We've exceeded each of the first three goals, and hopefully, we can exceed the final goal. The national championship meet is the culmination of a wonderful season for the U of L track and field program and one that should give us a strong foundation to build upon in the future."

Entering the event, the Cards have athletes ranked in Trackwire.com's Dandy Dozen in three events led by Tone Belt in two events. Belt, a freshman from Berkeley Springs, W.Va., is ranked seventh in the nation in the long jump with his school record mark of 25 feet, 8.25 inches and eighth nationally in the high jump with his school record height of 7-03.75. Joining Belt in the Dandy Dozen is Andre Black, a freshman from Mobile, Ala., who ranks fourth nationally in the triple jump with his school record mark of 53-00.75.

In their last event, the Cardinal men scored 38 points to earn a strong fourth-place finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Knoxville, Tenn., and clinch the program's best-ever finish at the event. LSU won the men's title with 71 points followed by Tennessee in second with 52.25 points, while reigning national champion Arkansas was third with 41 points, just three points in front of the Cards. On the women's side, the Cards were 23rd overall with nine points while LSU earned the women's regional title with 95.5 points followed by Auburn with 77 points.

CBS, CSTV to Provide Live Television Coverage
For the first time since 1982, the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be televised live. CBS will air two and a half hours of live coverage on Saturday, June 10, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET, while CSTV will broadcast two hours of competition (8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern) on Friday, June 9. Never before has the next-to-last day of the NCAA Championships been televised live. The 4 1/2 hours of live coverage is the most live coverage in the 86-year history of the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships. This marks the second time that the women's portion of the meet will be televised live.

2006 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field ChampionshipsA.G. Spanos Sports Complex - Sacramento, Calif.Schedule of Events - University of Louisville Athletes
Wednesday, June 77:15 p.m.       Men's High Jump - Qualifying (Tone Belt)10:00 p.m.  Women's High Jump - Qualifying (Kelley Bowman)10:00 p.m.  Men's Discus - Qualifying (Arthur Turland)10:15 p.m.  Men's Long Jump - Qualifying (Tone Belt)11:30 p.m.  Men's 5,000m - Semifinals (Wesley Korir)
Thursday, June 82:00 p.m.       Women's Hammer - Qualifying (Emily Turland)7:10 p.m.       Women's 400m Hurdles - Round 1 (Heather Trimiew)9:30 p.m.       Men's Long Jump - Final
Friday, June 96:00 p.m.       Men's Triple Jump - Qualifying (Andre Black)6:45 p.m.       Women's High Jump - Final9:10 p.m.       Women's 400m Hurdles - Semifinal9:15 p.m.       Men's Discus - Final9:30 p.m.       Men's High Jump - Final10:30 p.m.  Men's 5,000m - Final
Saturday, June 101:00 p.m.       Women's Hammer - Final3:30 p.m.       Men's Triple Jump - Final3:52 p.m.       Women's 400m Hurdles - Final
University of Louisville Track & Field National QualifiersNational Rankings Entering the NCAA Outdoor Championships(Rankings based on accepted entries for each event)
Men's QualifiersAthlete - Event - National RankingTone Belt - High Jump - 6th of 26Tone Belt - Long Jump - 10th of 26Andre Black - Triple Jump - 4th of 26Wesley Korir - 5,000m - 22nd of 26Arthur Turland - Discus - 21st of 26
Women's QualifiersAthlete - Event - National RankingKelley Bowman - High Jump - 12th of 27Heather Trimiew - 400m Hurdles - 17th of 29Emily Turland - Hammer - 20th of 28th

University of Louisville Athletics

Seven Cardinal Athletes to Compete at NCAA Outdoor Championships

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Tone Belt

Andre Black

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Arthur Turland

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