Cardinals Ready to Compete at Two Events This Weekend
February 05, 2009 | Men's Track and Field
Feb. 5, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The nationally ranked University of Louisville men's and women's indoor track and field teams will compete at two events this weekend (Feb. 6-7) when they travel to South Bend, Ind. and Lexington, Ky. for the Meyo Invitational and Rod McCravy Memorial.
"At this time of the year it's just great competition wherever you go as both meets feature premiere national teams," said U of L head coach Ron Mann. "Our goal is to put the finishing touches on this weekend before we head to the BIG EAST Championships in two weeks. We will be looking to improve all of our marks not only in conference but on a national level as well."
U of L will have a total of 40 athletes competing this weekend, including 21 at the prestigious Meyo Invitational which features schools from the Big Ten and Big 12; and 19 at the Rod McCravy Invitational that includes schools out of the SEC and Sun Belt. Both unscored meets are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET on Friday at the University of Notre Dame's Loftus Center and University of Kentucky's Nutter Field House.
The Cardinals who are in search of their first-ever men's or women's BIG EAST Indoor Championship have 53 qualifiers (30 women, 23 men) entering this weekend's competition. They also have seven NCAA Indoor Championship qualifiers, including one automatic bid.
Louisville has had a couple of weeks off since they finished second at the Gene Edmonds Cup on Jan. 24 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Cards won 14 event titles and posted two NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the double-dual meet. Louisville defeated Indiana State (157-145) and lost to Purdue (167-146).
The No. 21 ranked Cardinal women were led by red-shirt sophomore Tarah McKay. McKay posted a career day winning both the mile and 800-meter run. She set both personal and school records in each event. The St. Clements, Ont. native, McKay surpassed the previous school record in the mile by almost four seconds with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:47.44. The previous mark was set in 1996 by Bettina Bard (4:51.43). McKay also set the record in the 800-meter run that she previously shared with current Cardinal Kat Alcorn. McKay finished first with a time of 2:10.80, beating the previous record of 2:12.96.
Sophomore D'Ana McCarty won the weight throw with a mark of 66-09.75, the third best in school history, as U of L placed one through three in the event. The women also dominated the shot put placing first, second and third, respectively, as well. Freshman Khadija Abdullah won the event with a throw of 49-03.00.
Other event winners included juniors Rachel Gehret (high jump), Amaka Omenyinma (long jump), and Saravia Richardson (200m) as well as senior Heather Trimiew (400m).
Pacing the No. 9 ranked Cardinal men was red-shirt junior Tone Belt who picked up two event titles. Belt, a four-time All-American, won the high jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 7-01.50. The jump was the fifth best in the NCAA this season. A Berkeley Springs, W. Va. native, Belt also won the long jump with a leap of 24-04.50.
Red-shirt junior Andre Black won the triple jump crown after posting a mark of 49-07.
Rounding out the event winners for the men was senior Steven Hnat (shot put), red-shirt junior Cory Thorne (mile run), and sophomore Matt Bruce (3000m).
The Cards will return to action on Feb. 13 at the Hoosier Hills Invitational in Bloomington, Ind.
Players Mentioned
