Meyo Invitational Up Next for Louisville Track & Field
February 07, 2008 | Men's Track and Field
Feb. 7, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For the third time this year, the University of Louisville track and field team will compete in the Hoosier state as the Cards compete on Friday and Saturday at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame's Loftus Center in South Bend, Ind. The unscored meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, on Friday and continue on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
"We're only two weeks away from the BIG EAST Championships, so this is a big weekend for us as we work towards a few more conference qualifying marks," said Cards' head coach Ron Mann. "We'd also like to improve our positioning with improved marks at the conference and national levels. I like the way we've been practicing and I think we're set for big weekend with some strong results."
The Cards expect to have a total of 35 athletes from the men's and women's programs competing at the annual meet. U of L enters the weekend with 56 total qualifiers (29 men, 27 women) for the BIG EAST Championships, set for Feb. 23-24 in New York City. The Cards have also set a combined 12 school records (seven men, five women) through the first four events of the season.
Last weekend, the Cards set three school records and had three NCAA provisional qualifying performances at the Rod McCravy Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Leading the way for Louisville was the trio of Cory Thorne, Edmund Yeboah and Kat Alcorn who each set new school records on Saturday.
Thorne earned a third-place finish in the men's mile run with a record time of 4:07.81 improving on his previous record time of 4:08.24 set last week at Indiana. A 2007 NCAA All-American in cross country, Thorne is the Cards' school record holder in two indoor events (mile, 800m) and one outdoor event (3000m steeplechase).
Yeboah earned a ninth-place finish in the 60m dash with a school record setting time of 6.80 seconds in his first career collegiate meet after enrolling at U of L in January. The record setting time broke the previous mark of 6.81 set by Shaquan Brown last January.
Alcorn earned an 11th-place finish in the women's 800m run with a school record time of 2:12.96 improving on the previous record time of 2:13.6 set by former Cardinal great Bettina Bard in 1996. Alcorn is also the Cards' school record holder in the indoor 1,000m at 2:59.32.
Adding a pair of NCAA qualifying performances was Jere' Summers in the shot put with a throw of 52-10.75, her second best mark of the season in the weight throw with a career best mark of 63-08.25 to finish second overall in the field of 24.
Following this weekend's event at Notre Dame, the Cards will have athletes competing at a pair of events on Feb. 15-16 - the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa.
Players Mentioned
