Track and Field Qualifiers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Five Headed to Oregon So Far

With Louisville track and field in Jacksonville for the NCAA regional, they've been having some success heading into the final day of competition. The Cards opened Thursday with a day one qualifier in Synclair Savage. Savage set a program record with her mark in the long jump. It was a good return to the NCAA event after she missed last season due to injury, as Savage broke her own record previously set in 2023. Day one also saw Kiyah Yeast qualify for the 200m quarterfinal sprint. Her 100m opening heat didn't go her way so she has just the one event to focus on today. 

Photo by Mallory Peak, UofL

Competition was suspended due to weather in the afternoon, so the Friday schedule was a little compressed. Friday saw Louisville add four more athletes to their qualification list for the national meet in Oregon, with two of those on the women's side. First up was Ashley Callahan, who shook off the fact that pole vault was suspended in the middle of the event to advance to the outdoor championships for the first time in her career. It is the seventh straight year that Louisville has a had a female representative in the outdoor championship pole vault meet. Callahan was joined in qualification by Jaden Ulrich, who threw a good-enough 58-11.5 shot put effort to finish third in the event. It wasn't her best throw and she'll be disappointed with third in Oregon, but that's where they hand out the medals, so she met her goal of qualifying from regionals. 

Ulrich will be one of quite a few female Cards in action today, as most of the women's events were scheduled for today to begin with. She'll be trying to become Louisville's first athlete to qualify for multiple events in back-to-back seasons since 2017 when she throws discus this afternoon. Also competing today are Sophia Day and Sharvari Parulekar in the triple jump, Soledad Jean in the high jump, Layla Roebke in the 3000m Steeplechase, Yeast in the 200m, and Olivia Alessandrini in the 5000m. The field events won't be televised, but starting at 5pm, you can check out ESPN+ for coverage of the track events. 

CCHRP Hiatus Continues

As I mentioned earlier this week, we're still out for various reasons. It's been an inconsistent May for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, but we'll do our best to get back on track starting next week. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Miscellaneous sports notes -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning readers, Im gearing up for a vacation next week so the guys will have me covered then but for now Ive been keeping up with some national headlines.  

Softball championship next week starting Wednesday through Friday for a best of 3 game series.

Thursday night's matchups resulted in a 3-0 Texas win over Florida and Oklahoma beating Tennessee 4-3 where Florida and Tennessee with face off in the Elimination bracket.  The two SEC powers have not faced off yet this season.  Texas Tech beat Ole Miss 1-0, while Oregon fell to UCLA 4-2.  

5 WNBA games tonight

UofL fans will want to tune in for the Emily Engstler and the Washington Mystics (3-3) vs Liberty at 7:30pm and Dana Evans and the Aces (2-2) face off with the Sparks at 10pm.  The Dallas Wings and Myisha Hines Allen faced off last night but ultimately fell to the Sky to move to 1-5 on the season.  MHA finished with 10 pts, 6 assists and 4 rebounds in 25 minutes on the floor. 

Cards currently on rosters

As Always, 
Go Cards! 
~Daryl 

Volleyball Roster Update -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

UofL Volleyball Roster Update

In an unsurprising announcement, UofL volleyball player Sam Untiedt posted that she has transferred to South Dakota. Untiedt just concluded her freshman season with the Cards and will have three years of eligibility remaining.

During her season with the Cards, Untiedt saw action in 10 matches, tallying one assist, three service aces, and five digs. As the Louisville roster grows, it was expected we would see a player or two transfer out.

Kamden Schrand with the serve receive

Louisville pulled in a couple key transfers while bringing in a strong recruiting class. Chloe Chicoine is an outside hitter from Purdue with two years of eligibility left. Chicoine was one of the top recruits out of high school and in the transfer portal. She should be a full rotation player both offensively and in the back row.

Molly Wilson transferred in from Washington and will have one year of eligibility remaining. The setter earned Big Ten honors (Washington just completed their first year in the Big Ten) and should be in competition with Nayelis Cabello for the starting setter position.

Hannah Kenny setting

Payton Petersen, Reese Robins, Alanna Bankston, and Ava Utterback are all vying for an outside hitter position alongside Chicoine. Petersen made her name known following Anna DeBeer's injury in the Final Four and Robins was a regular on rotation last season.

Kamden Schrand is the favorite to take over the libero position but has been in a battle for that role with incoming freshman Hannah Kenny. Kenny has a similar backstory as recent graduate Elena Scott in that both were all-conference/all-district setters at successful high school programs and transitioned to a defensive specialist position in college. Having a DS with setter experience can be an asset in out of system plays. Molly Urban and Jessica Drapp help fill up the DS room.

Chloe Chicoine on the outside

The middle blockers haven't changed much. Phekran Kong graduated and is using her final year of eligibility out at UCLA while working on her masters degree. Cara Cresse and Hannah Sherman are both back and should be the regular middle blocker rotation. Kalyssa Blackshear comes in as a highly touted freshman that could see some court time too.

We should see the VolleyCards in some action in late August as they get ready for the season.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softballers on Academic All-District Team -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Five Cards Recognized by CSC

The College Sport Communicators (CSC) identified their Academic All-District teams this week, and Louisville softball placed five Cardinals on the Division I list. CSC honors baseball and softball across four divisions of collegiate athletics. The district-level is the only subset prior to the CSC Academic All-American honor, which is voted on via national ballot of specific players from the district list. 

Louisville's five honorees were Bri Despines (JR), Maddi Grant (SR), Char Lorenz (R-FR), Easton Lotus (R-JR), and Alyssa Zabala (JR). The award is the first for Grant, Despines, and Lorenz, and the second for Lotus and Zabala. This marks Zabala's second straight CSC All-District award, as Louisville's ace was honored for her 10 wins with a 4.00 ERA over 140 innings pitched this season. 

In her first year with the team, Despines hit .318 with 37 runs, 47 hits, and 37 RBI. Defensively, she led the team in putouts (narrowly edging Grant (1B) 226-221) and had 12 assists with only five errors. She allowed just four passed balls and caught four runners stealing. Grant, as mentioned, was steller at first, tying with Taylor Monroe for the team lead in double-plays turned (9) and tallying just three errors on her way to a .987 fielding percentage. With 233 fielding opportunities, that percentage is stellar, and it led the team among players with at least 50 chances. Grant also hit above her career average with a .236 clip in 106 at bats (the most of her career by a long shot). She tallied 25 hits, 10 runs, and 13 RBI with two homers. 

Easton Lotus returned from injury with a strong season. Louisville's primary leadoff hitter tailed off a bit down the stretch, but still finished second on the team with a career high .357 batting average. She had 65 hits and 16 walks, which contributed to her 38 runs scored. Her five triples were tied for the team lead, as were her 18 stolen bases. As the leadoff, she didn't get a ton of opportunities, but she still managed to knock in 26 RBI. 

You'll notice that a lot of the stats so far have been "tied for" or "second on the team". That's because Char Lorenz was that good. How she was only second-team All-ACC is beyond me, but I guess it speaks to the quality of the players in the league. Lorenz led the team in average (.368), OPS (1.130), doubles (11), triples (tied; 5), home runs (9), and RBI (53). She walked 17 times and was hit by eight pitches. She also stole 13 bases. Defensively, she was no slouch in left field, fielding .967 with 87 putouts, two assists, and just three errors. Lorenz is the only one of the five Cards on the All-District list to be tabbed for the national ballot, so we'll keep an eye on her potential ascension to the All-American ranks. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

PS: To give everyone an early heads up, the CCRHP hiatus will continue this week. We intended to return on Saturday, but host outages mean we'll have to skip another episode. 

Less Than 100 Until Fall Sports -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Countdown is On!

Although we just entered the offseason for Louisville women's athletics a couple weeks ago, we can already start looking ahead to the fall season. With many of our fall sports beginning n mid-late August, we can assume that we are below 100 days- and maybe even 90 days- before the first game.

In the past, either field hockey or women's soccer started off the fall season with a scrimmage or two followed by their first regulation match. More likely than not, those two sports will race for the first official game of the season again. Volleyball typically starts a bit closer to Labor Day.

Women's soccer and field hockey both had down seasons last year. Justine Sowry's squad finished below .500 for the first time since Trager Stadium opened up. The mass departure of graduating players including a plethora of COVID fifth-year seniors left the Cards relying on quite a bit of youth. At least 10 regular rotation players were freshmen or sophomores.

Karen Ferguson-Dayes' team finished just above .500 at 7-6-5. It was their first finish over .500 since 2019, when the Cards had a winning season for three straight years. Non-conference play has not been much of a challenge in the past, but the ACC has proved to be too much for Louisville, which has never finished better than 6-4 since joining the conference.

Volleyball is coming off a strong season that featured their second National Runner-Up finish in three years. The team will look a bit different after graduating half a dozen players and losing Dani Busboom Kelly to Nebraska. Dan Meske was promoted to the head coach position and managed to keep together pretty much the entire roster for next season including bring in some key transfers.

As the seasons get closer we will break down the schedules and rosters.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Memorial Day Recognition -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

    

We at Cardinal Couple recognize the Memorial holiday and honor those who lost their lives serving their country.    

So many strong people and families in this country carry the mourning of their partners, their friends and even the memories of losing their fellow service men and women can be a heavy load so take a moment to think of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  

The University of Louisville also recognizes the federal holiday and campus is closed.  

    

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl 

Laura Ziegler, Yevhenian Putra joins Cards WBB-- Sunday Cardinal Couple

 6'3" FORWARD FROM UKRAINE NEW CARD FOR 2025

Jeff Walz is well known for his wide range on recruiting area in his nearly two decades as a head WBB at Louisville.. He's had his share of European players on the squad, and the newest addition to the Cards from Europe is 6'3" forward from Kiev, Ukraine named YEVHENIIA PUTRA.

 She is no ordinary freshman.

Putra has stops at the United Kingdom, Spain, Romania, Scotland and her home country Ukraine playing basketball. She has mostly been a center....but Louisville is listing her as a forward. She also played on the Ukraine National Team from 2023-25. 

A player with such extensive experience will be a welcome addition to a Cardinals roster that has just two seniors on the roster.  

Although the Cards are relatively young, there is vast experience. Imari Berry, Mac Randolph, Elif Istanbulloglu, and Taj Roberts all played extensively last season for Jeff Walz, and Skylar Jones, who is transferring in from Arizona...is an experienced guard/forward as well. Reyna Scott also joins the roster from Oklahoma, where she played a lot, too. 

Yevhenia's recent play with MBK Ruzomberok, a club team in Slovakia will make her a valuable addition to the Cards front line.

ZIEGLER POISED TO BE IMPACT PLAYER FOR CARDS

Let's not forget transfer in Laura Ziegler, who spent her previous three seasons at St.Joseph. The 6'2" forward was All-A10 last season

Ziegler: started all 31 games last year at St. Joseph and was the second leading scorer on the team. Her time at St. Joseph is chock full of awards and honors, including:

--14.3 points and 9.4 rebounds last year at St..Joseph

--13 double-doubles on the season.

-- Had 27 points against Duquesne

-- 84 assists last season, second highest on the squad.

We welcome both these newcomers to Cards WBB, part of a six-player new group for the 2025-26 Cards. 

paulie

- 

Cards Set for NCAA T&F Regionals -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ten Women Headed to Jacksonville

Louisville women's track and field is coming off a team runner-up finish at the ACC championships, which makes it no surprise that they would send a big contingent to the NCAA Regional meet. This year, the East Region will compete in Jacksonville, FL from May 28 to May 31. The group will, of course, include Jayden Ulrich, who maintains her position on the watchlist for The Bowerman award following conference tournaments. The Bowerman is the top prize in track and field, awarded to the most outstanding male and female athletes each season. Ulrich was the first Cardinal to ever be named to a watchlist earlier this year, and she has held that spot on each subsequent release. 

Ulrich will compete in two events in Jacksonville, which is really no surprise, since she took the gold in both Shot Put and Discus for the ACC. She'll be joined in the Discus event by Jade Whitfield. Two other Cardinals qualified for a pair of events themselves: Kiyah Yeast in the 100m and 200m sprints, and Sophia Day in the Long Jump and Triple Jump. Day will be joined by Synclair Savage and Sharvari Parulekar in those events, respectively. 

Two Cards will also take on the Pole Vault, as Ashley Callahan and Iliana Triantafyllou both qualified. Each other competitor from UofL is a sole entrant in their event as the remainder of the representatives are Olivia Alessandrini (5000m), Layla Roebke (3000m Steeplechase), and Soledad Jean (High Jump). In all, ten Cardinals represent 14 entrants across ten events. Best of luck to all of them as the event gets underway following Memorial Day weekend. 

No CCRHP This Week

Speaking of Memorial Day weekend, we'll take this week off again from the podcast with a return on the schedule for next week. If something changes, we'll let you know. 

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

ESPN announces Vball series, Cards vs Texas -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Welcome back to another glorious holiday weekend.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to get out of town for some R&R. 

Some off season volleyball news came out yesterday and something to look forward to. 

Photo: Jared Anderson

from gocards.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- ESPN Events announced the addition of a newly owned-and-operated women's volleyball tournament – the inaugural 'Showdown at the Net', set for September 9-10.  As part of the Showdown, the University of Louisville Cardinals will face off with the University of Texas Longhorns on Sept. 10.

The 'Showdown at the net' features 16 squads from both the ACC and SEC as they face off in cross-conference challenge via matchups across the nation. Action to be featured on ESPN2, SEC Network, ACC Network, SEC Network+ and ACCNX, with times for each match to be announced at a later time.

Its a four-team showcase at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on 9/10/25.   Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Louisville and Texas will face off in those two ACC/SEC clashes, with the Pitt Panthers slated to take on UK at 6:30 p.m. ET, and the Louisville Cardinals and Texas Longhorns to follow at 9 p.m. Both matches will air on ESPN.

The last time the Cardinals and Longhorns faced off was in the national championship in 2022 when Texas swept the Cards 25-22, 25-14, 26-24.  Claire Chausse had 12 kills in the match.

I remember not wanting to recall that match.   Lol  the Cards will get over that hump one day and we are very much looking forward to that day.  

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial weekend.

As Always, 

Go Cards

~Daryl

More Summer Soccer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

19 Total Cards with Summer Clubs

Last week I wrote about the University of Louisville women's soccer players that had stayed with the hometown Racing Louisville development team for their summer play. In the process, I inadvertently left off a number of Cardinals that will be participating with other teams, including many remaining local. In all, 19 players are suiting up for clubs this summer to keep touches on the ball, which is 83% of the players currently listed on UofL's roster for the 2025 season. Not too shabby. 

First, another Louisville player was added to the Racing roster. Nicole Jodoin, an incoming freshman forward from West Boylston, Massachusetts, will join Fina Davy, AG Gibson, Betsy Huckaby, and Grace Maddox in a very attack heavy representation. 

Floyd (30) and 2024 graduate Ava Nielsen

The next largest contingent of Cardinals headed east on I-64 to play for Lexington SC. While Racing's squad sports mostly offensive players from Louisville, Lexington sees most of the starting defense held together. Erynn Floyd, Louisville starting goalkeeper, is joined by three of her starting backline: Karsyn Cherry, Lizzie Sexton, and Hadley Snyder. That group will play Racing twice this season, with the first of those matches coming last night. After a 9-0 victory to start the season, Louisville played Kings Hammer FC to a 3-3 draw before a 0-0 draw last night against Lexington. A good showing for Louisville's defenders, while hopefully not too concerning for the attackers. 

Another player that will see her teammates on the opposing side of the pitch is Emersen Jennings, who is suiting up for Indy Eleven. The rising senior forward is from Noblesville, so, like Huckaby and Gibson, she's playing for her hometown club. Jennings is one of eight players that is a sole Louisville representative on her squad. Mackenzie Geigle (F-Sr) is another of those players, as she will once again represent her local team with the NC Courage's development program. 

Maya Maxwell (8), Jennings (27), and Gigs (3)

Most Cardinals are remaining local, to be fair. Emma Kate Schroll (MF-Sr), a Dacula, Georgia native, is playing for United FA, a Georgia academy team tied to the Arsenal Football Development program. Likewise, Amelia Swinarski (MF-So), from Madison, Ohio, is playing for Internationals SC in northeast Ohio. Also competing this summer are Brooklynn Lee (D-So; FC Olympia), Liza Suydam (MF-Jr[transfer]; PA Classics), Kailey Kimball (GK-Sr; Oakland Soul), and Brielle Baker (GK-Fr; Paisley Athletic). The only two other Cards who aren't alone in summer player are rising freshmen Karina (F/MF) and Kiley (D) Peat. The twins are from Wilmington, North Carolina and are playing for Port City in their hometown. 

Good luck to all of the Kickin' Cards this summer as we look forward to the 2025 season, which will get underway in just under three months. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cresse and Chicoine named to USA Volleyball 2025 team -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS MAKE USA U 23 PAN AMERICAN TEAM

Not normally a lot of Louisville Volleyball news in late May to report on, as a rule, but we do have news on two returning Cards and their inclusion onto the 2025 USA U 23 Pan American squad. 

Chloe Chicoine,  junior outside hitter and Cara Cresse, a redshirt senior middle blocker have been name the the USA squad for the 2025 Pan American games. 

Both players have a ton of experience to offer the USA squad. Chicoine, who transferred in to Louisville from Purdue to join the Cards, was on the 2023 U 21 USA, squad...where she helped USA win the gold, earning MVP and best outside hitter awards. In 2022, she was, again on the USA Pan Am squad and was also on the 2021 USA Girls U18 National Team and a part of the squad that won bronze in the U18 World championships. 

Cresse was on the 2024 USA women's national team that played in the Pan Am Cup Final Six and won silver.18 players will report for the training camp July 18-25 and twelve will be selected from there to represent USA. Other players from the area invited were Eva Hudson and Brooke Bultema both from University of Kentucky

Chicoine and Cresse are expected to be major players for new Louisville head coach Dan Meske, along with transfer setter from Univ. of Washington Molly Wilson, returnee Reese Robins, Nayelis Cabello, Alanna Bankson and Jessica Drapp. Four incoming freshmen will vye for time on the court for the #3 ranked Cards...middle hitter Kaylissa Blackshear, setter Hanna Kenny, middle blocker Addison Makun and outside hitter Chloe Meester. 

The annual Red and Black Scrimmage of the Cards will be in mid-August, at the on-campus LNFCU facility. 

PAULIE 

Softball Key Returners and Departure -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

While the NCAA Softball Tournament moves onto the Super Regionals, we turn our focus to Louisville softball. The Cards did not make the NCAA Tournament, but we can start to look at who is departing and who should be returning.

Departures

Possibly the most common name across the departures is Ally Alexander. The Spencer County native spent all four seasons with the Cards and played a utility position role. Whether she was thrown in at shortstop, second, third, or catcher, Alexander quickly accepted that position. She posted a career high in batting average her final season.

Sam Booe is another common name. Hailing from less than two hours away in New Palestine, Ind., Booe was one of the go-to pitchers over the span of her career. In her later years, she provided a great deal of leadership to the pitching staff.

Maddi Grant saw her role increase in her final couple years, primarily playing first base. She also proved to be a strong hitter, consistently putting balls in the outfield.

Returners

Alyssa Zabala has been the ace almost since the moment she stepped foot on campus. As a rising senior, her role in the circle should not change and she will be able to mentor the other pitchers.

Easton Lotus had a healthy season this past year and proved to be her most successful yet, as she was one of the top two on the team in batting average and led the team in hits and runs scored. She will have her redshirt senior season left.

Bri Despines transferred in this past season and immediately assumed the starting catcher position. She was one of five players to hit over .300 while also limiting stolen base attempts by opponents. Despines was second on the team in rbis. She will have one season remaining.

Char Lorenz is the odd one out on the returners as she just completed her redshirt freshman season and has three years of eligibility remaining. Lorenz led the team in batting average, doubles, home runs, and rbis. 

With NIL and the transfer portal dominating college athletics, it would not be surprising to see a couple folks transfer out or transfer in. As of right now, no one has declared their intent to enter the portal.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC Struggles in NCAA Regionals -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Sends Less Than 50% of Teams to Supers

ACC Softball Logo

Happy Monday to our Cardinal Couple readers out there! Daryl had a big birthday yesterday and celebrated into the evening and asked me to help her out today. We certainly wish Daryl the happiest of birthdays!

The NCAA Softball Tournament was in full swing this past weekend with all 16 NCAA Regionals taking place. Despite having nine teams making the NCAA Tournament, the ACC did not fare so well with only two (maybe three as one game was still playing late last night) advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Photo by ACC

5-seed Florida State won their first two games before Auburn got an upset in the winners bracket. Fortunately, it is double elimination so the Seminoles had a second chance and took down the Tigers in the winner-takes-all game. They outscored opponents 25-9 on the weekend.

11-seed Clemson also advanced , but only needed three games to do so. They went undefeated on the weekend with their final win coming against Kentucky. The Tigers outscored opponents 16-3.

14-seed Duke could not capitalize on hosting a Regional and fell to Georgia. The Blue Devils won their opening round in run-rule fashion before being bested by Georgia in their second game. Duke went on to win in the losers bracket by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning to pull off the win. They turned around beat Georgia easily to force the "if necessary" game. Duke scored both of their runs in the first inning and then had to go to extra innings, where the Bulldogs put up a three-spot in extra innings for the upset.

NCAA Softball Logo

Virginia was in the region with 8-seed South Carolina. Despite never facing the host Gamecocks, Virginia went 1-2 with both losses coming to North Florida by one run each.

Georgia Tech was in the region with 3-seed Florida. The Yellow Jackets went 0-2, falling to Florida Atlantic and Mercer.

North Carolina was in the region with 7-seed Tennessee. The Tar Heels went 0-2, losing to Ohio State and Miami (OH). I'm sure they would've preferred playing anyone from the other 49 states.

NCAA WCWS Logo

Virginia Tech was in the region with 15-seed Alabama and nearly came out of the weekend still playing. The opened with a dominating win over Belmont before losing to Alabama by one in the second round. They responded by run-ruling Belmont before falling to the Crimsons by one run in the finale.

California was in the region with 2-seed Oklahoma. After a 1-0 win over Omaha to start the weekend, the Bears were run-ruled by the Sooners the next game. Cal would shut out Omaha for a second time to force a rematch with Oklahoma, but had the same result with a run-rule defeat.

Stanford was in the region with 16-seed Oregon. As of 11:15pm ET last night, the winner-takes-all game was going on with the Cardinal holding a 7-3 lead. Stanford had a great start to the weekend by cruising past Binghamton and run-ruling host Oregon. The Ducks turned around with a run-rule victory themselves, forcing the "if necessary game". A Stanford win would place three ACC teams in the NCAA Super Regional round.

Photo by Jared

There was another exciting game going late into the night too, but this one did not involve an ACC team. 1-seed (top overall seed) Texas A&M was upset by Liberty 6-5, meaning the top overall seed did not advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since seeding became a thing in 2005.

There are a few teams of note that were playing in the NCAA Regionals that Louisville faced this season. The Cards fell to Liberty 9-4 in the second game of the season. Louisville defeated Florida Atlantic 4-0 while still down in Florida.

Of the ACC teams in the tournament, Louisville went 3-13 against them this year. The Cards were swept 0-3 by Virginia Tech and Duke. They went 1-2 against Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Cards and Cavaliers met again in the ACC Tournament with Virginia taking the walk-off win.

Photo by Jared

The Cards posted a strong non-conference result, but a 9-15 record in the ACC regular season proved to be the downfall this season. The addition of two new softball teams in Stanford and California has raised the level of the conference. The Cards will need to look at beefing up the roster and making some noise in the ACC next season in hopes to be back dancing in the tournament.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Women's Rowing with successes in ACC Championships -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VARSITY EIGHT TAKES SECOND PLACE

We don't cover rowing very often here at Cardinal Couple, but follow their progress and are fans of the women who take to the boats and oars for the Cards. 

In the ACC championships, the Varsity Eight squad gave great effort and finished second in the finals, only two seconds behind winner North Carolina. The squad, consisting of Mackenna Billington, Grace Rodebaugh, Lexi Bernard, Bradlie Hicks, Madeline Giron, Gabriella Allen, Donata Eliz, Mary Noschang and Lauren Stedry. 

The Cards second Varsity Four finished third in a three way close finish between them. Miami and Clemson. They were one second behind Miami and four seconds behind Clemson.  The Varsity Four squad consisted of Angels Rodriguez, Stella Mancini, Bria Ragauckas and Neala Marshall. 

Overall, the Cards finish tenth out of the 12 teams participating.  Stanford won the championships in runaway fashion, with 132 points, The Cards amassed 39 points, in a scoring system I will probably never fully understand.  

 The contests were held at Lake Hartwell basically Clemson's home water.  

paulie

T&F at Outdoor ACC Championships -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ulrich Among ACC Champs Again

It has been a strong weekend for Louisville at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. So far, the Cards have picked up two gold medals, while also bringing in a heap of other podiums entering the final day of the event. Jayden Ulrich defended her shot put title by winning the event with a throw that bested the remainder of the field by almost a meter. She has a chance to take the double again later today in the women's discus event. Ulrich will have her eyes on the pair of ACC golds as well as strong performances in the national meet in a few weeks. 

The men's team holds the other gold medal so far, with Paul Kallenberg taking the men's decathlon gold and Louisville getting a 1-2 finish with KJ Byrd finishing as the runner up. The men also got podiums in shot put and pole vault to sit in 3rd overall in the competition. 

The women's team is currently first overall. In addition to Ulrich's gold, Louisville has earned silver medals from Ashley Callahan (pole vault), Layla Roebke (3000m steeplechase), and Synclair Savage (long jump). Lucy Fellows finished third in the women's heptathlon, earning a personal best in four of the seven events along the way. Kiyah Yeast will contest two finals today, having earned school records in both the 200m and 100m sprints. She had the second-fastest qualifying time in the 200 and the third-fastest in the 100 in the prelim races.

Louisville will look to hold their lead with discus, high jump, and Yeast's sprints among their top point-scoring opportunities. Events begin at 2PM eastern and can be streamed on ACCNX. 

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The CCRHP will take a brief hiatus over the next two weeks. Hosts are scattered to the wind this week and next week is Memorial Day Weekend. We're looking to return to action on May 31st, but we'll be sure to let you know if things change. 

Until next time, Go Cards!