Cardinals Compete at Last Chance Meets This Weekend
March 05, 2009 | Women's Track and Field
March 5, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's and women's indoor track and field teams will have one last chance to earn qualifying marks for the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend (March 7) when they travel to South Bend, Ind. and Blacksburg, Va. for the Alex Wilson and Virginia Tech Last Chance Meets.
"Certainly there are some areas we need to make a move in," said U of L head coach Ron Mann. "Across the board these are two great meets and we want to give all of those athletes that are close to making the NCAA field an opportunity to do so."
U of L will have a total of 19 athletes competing this weekend, including 16 at Virginia Tech. The unscored meets are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. ET on Saturday at Notre Dame's Loftus Center and Virginia Tech's Rector Field House, respectively.
The Cards have 16 NCAA provisional qualifiers (eight men, eight women) and one NCAA automatic bid entering this weekend's competition.
Louisville has had a week off to prepare after both the men's and women's teams finished third at the 2009 BIG EAST Indoor Championships on Feb. 21-22. U of L captured four BIG EAST individual titles and 17 medals, while setting six new school records.
Leading the way on the men's side was red-shirt junior Tone Belt who posted an NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a leap of 25-02.75 (7.69m) to win the long jump title. Belt, a four-time All-American, won the title in 2006 and 2007. Belt also finished second and third in the high and triple jumps, respectively.
Senior Andrew Hackney's personal best throw of 67-04.25 (20.53m) earned him his second consecutive BIG EAST title and was an improvement upon his NCAA ranking as he now sits at 14th on the list.
Rounding out the list of event winners for the Cardinal men was red-shirt junior Andre Black who earned his third BIG EAST triple jump title with a leap of 51.03.75 (15.64m). Black, a three-time All-American, won the event for the fourth time this season and has already earned an NCAA automatic bid. U of L would finish first, second and third in the event.
Other medal winners included: Wesley Smith (2nd, long jump), Jacques Caldwell (2nd, 200m), Steven Hnat (2nd, shot put), Michael Eaton (3rd, 5000m) and Michael Johnson, Jr. (3rd, triple jump).
The Cardinal women were led by the school record performance of sophomore D'Ana McCarty who won the weight throw with a mark of 67-09.75 (20.67m). McCarty, an Indianapolis, Ind. native, eclipsed previous school record holder and current teammate Jere' Summers throw of 67-00.75 (20.44m) and improved her NCAA mark that currently is fifth. The toss also marked the seventh consecutive meet that McCarty has won the event and reached NCAA provisional status.
Others earning medals at the competition included: Amaka Omenyinma (2nd, long jump), Rachel Gehret (3rd, long jump), Tarah McKay (2nd, mile), Seidre Forde (2nd, triple jump), Khadija Abdullah (2nd, shot put) and Chinwe Okoro (3rd, shot put).
"Not only is it important now but also into the future in that these young athletes continue moving towards national prominence," said Mann. "Two years ago we were certainly in a lot better position heading into the NCAA Championships, but we are undoubtedly within realm of having a strong showing on both sides. We are doing the right things and doing them the right way so I feel good of where we are at."
The Cards will return to action on March 13-14 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.
Players Mentioned
