Five Cards quality for NCAA Women's Outdoor Champonships. -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ALL THE CARDS QUALIFIERS WERE IN FIELD EVENTS

The Cards track and field squad participated in the Lexington Regional of the NCAA DI Outdoors Tournament qualifications over the weekend and five Cardinals women punched their tickets for the Tournament...to be held in Eugene, Oregon on June 10--13. 

Ashley Callahan qualified in the pole vault, along with fellow Cardinals athlete Iliana Triantafyllou. Kate Tupu-Smith is in because of her shot put throw and just barely missed in the discus.  Eve Divinity will travel to Eugene to be in the long jump, and Alba Cuns Iglesias made the cut in the triple jump. 

Callahan, a redshirt senior out of San Diego, previously competed at San Diego State.  Trianyafyllou is a junior from Greece, Kate Tupu-Smith was at Washington before coming to Louisville. Divinity transferred to the Cards from San Diego St. and Cuns Iglesias is a redshirt junior from Spain. 

Louisville track and field has had a long history of success in the throws and field events over the years. Going back to the days of Emmonnie Henderson and Jayden Ulrich, the Cards have been a force in the previous conferences they were in .Current throws coach Cory Martin joined the roster in 2023 .

paulie 

Synclair Savage Named ACC Women's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Savage Joins Two Other Cardinals Over Last Four Years

Photo by GoCards

Following an incredibly successful outdoor spring season, Synclair Savage was named the ACC Women's Outdoor Athlete of the Year. Savage won the NCAA East Regional long jump with a mark of 6.64m. This qualified her for the NCAA Championships, where she set a program record in the same event with a 6.72m mark, winning the national championship.

Savage joined Jayden Ulrich (2024) and Gabriela Leon (2022) as recent UofL women's track and field athletes to earn the honor. 

She finishes her collegiate career having one of the most decorated seasons in Louisville history. Savage won six of the seven events she competed in this season. Five of the top 10 marks in program history came this season from the fifth-year senior.

As we have hit the halfway point of the 2025 and Louisville's fiscal year, we can now fully turn our attention to the upcoming fall sports season.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Roby Back and Cards in the Classroom -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We're a bit out of order again this week as weekend events will have me out on Saturday. I've swapped with Jared this week, so he'll bring you the article before Saturday's podcast recording.

Taylor Roby Officially Announces Return

We've hinted at it many times while discussing the future of Louisville softball on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, but Taylor Roby made it official yesterday: she will be exercising her additional year of eligibility to play for Louisville in 2023. The Mt. Washington native returns to the team looking to cement her name in Louisville history, having already made her mark in the record books. She is just two home runs off of tying the career record, and Louisville will be in trouble if she doesn't break that easily. In the circle, she is in the top-10 in saves, wins, innings, appearances, and starts. She'll look to have a bit more help in the circle in 2023, though, as she pitched more than half of the team's total innings in 2022. While an ace softball pitcher can do that on many teams, it can be a lot to ask of the player you're also having bat third in the lineup.

Roby's accomplishments are acknowledged outside of Louisville's records as well. She's a two-time recipient of All-ACC and NFC All-Southeast Region honors, having earned both in 2021 and 2022. A player of Roby's caliber does not come along frequently, and for Louisville to get the opportunity to have one more year with her is fantastic for the team. 

Though the ending may be a little bit spoiled, the announcement video that the team released on Twitter is extremely well done and worth the minute it takes to watch it. Roby Announcement Video

With an entire calendar of fall and winter sports on the horizon, it's hard not to already get excited for Louisville softball next spring.

Tennis and Track&Field Academic Honorees

The academic awards for the final spring sports have been announced and Louisville has made the list for both. 

Louisville women's tennis was named an ITA All-Academic Team and six individual players were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Neither award is a competitive one, as both are quantitative, but that doesn't take away from the recognition the players deserve. We've talked frequently about the rigors of being a college athlete and trying to balance school at the same time. For each of these six--Joy Callwood, Dina Chaika, Sasha Gorchanyuk, Tyra Richardson, Chelsea Sawyer, and Tatiana Simova--that balance meant finishing with at least a 3.5 GPA for the academic year. Though not every player on the team is on this list, the rest of the team is still doing well enough in the classroom for the All-Academic team award, which requires teams to have a collective 3.2 GPA for the season. It was a great year all around for tennis in academics: 1,517 players earned the Scholar-Athlete distinction and 250 programs were awarded.

The Louisville women's track and field team continued their run of academic excellence, having earned the team award for the 18th consecutive year. Unlike the tennis award, the USTFCCCA awards do carry an on-field performance requirement as well. In addition to the 3.25 cumulative GPA required for the season, the team must have top-96 status in the indoor season or reach an NCAA Championship event (preliminary events count) in the outdoor season. Louisville's honorees include a pair of two-sport athletes in Morgan Bentley and Emily Scott, as well as Soledad, Gabriela Leon, Synclair Savage, Auriane Viola, Brooke Weimer, and Aliyah Welter.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

NCAA Track and Field Championships begin today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

FOUR LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD STUDENT-ATHLETES IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

It all gets underway starting today in Eugene, Oregon for the 2022 NCAA Track and Field  Championships. 

Four members of the Louisville women's track and field squad will be taking part in the events  and Thursday will be their day to shine. Field events will have three of the Cardinals women participating, although none of them will be in the shot put or discus -- two areas where the Cards have excelled in past years. 

Gabriela Leon and Aliyah Welter will participate in the pole vault. Both cleared a height of 4.31m (14-1.75) in the NCAA East Regionals in Bloomington, IN to qualify for the Championships. Leon has cleared better -- at 4.61m (15-1.5) in the Clark Wood Invitational on the UofL campus. That vault set a school record, was tops in the ACC this season and the eighth-best outdoor vault in all-time NCAA . It's Leon's third time in the NCAA Championships, Welter is making her second appearance in the Championships. They jump around 9 p.m. ET Thursday

Synclair Savage will take part in her first NCAA Outdoor Championships in the women's long jump on Thursday at 10:00 p.m. ET. Savage earned her qualification after recording the fifth-best mark of the field with a jump of 6.32m (20-9) at the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round. She secured the women's outdoor long jump title and earned first-team honors with a wind-aided best of 6.65m (21-10) at the ACC Championships. In addition to her title, she set the women's long jump outdoor school record with a mark of 6.44m (21-1.5) at the Indiana Invitational this season.

Katie Martin concludes the second day of competition on Thursday with the women's 400-meter hurdles semifinals at 10:30 p.m. ET. Martin advanced to her first NCAA Outdoor Championships after recording a quarterfinals time of 57.93 seconds to clinch her place as a time qualifier. The time is the second-fastest Martin has posted in her collegiate career behind the school record 57.57 seconds clocked in a second-place and first-team honors finish at the ACC Championships.

We wish all our Cardinals athletes the best of luck !

paulie

Katie Martin Qualifies for NCAA Championships -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

MARTIN HEADED TO EUGENE IN 400M HURDLES

INTRO

I hope that your Memorial Day Weekend is going well. The actual Memorial Day is tomorrow (Monday) and if you are a bit unclear on what Memorial Day stands for, it is a day to honor, pay tribute and remember those who died while serving our country in the armed forces. 

It was originally called Decoration Day until it became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many will visit family gravesites and memorials over the weekend, many will picnic with family and friends or use the extra day off to vacation, travel, attend auto-racing events, musical festivals or just maybe hit the golf links or get out the bass boat and go fishing or skiing. Whatever your fancy or obligation is today, try to remember those who died protecting the freedoms you enjoy today. 

I know some of you might be checking in today to read Jeff's weekly effort here at Cardinal Couple. Sorry about your luck on that...you get me (Paulie) instead, as all our other writers are off on various pursuits and can't be bothered with taking a few minutes to write.

It's probably just as well. I started this site many moons ago and... when you come down to it...I'm on the site every day ....proof-reading, adding pictures, adding content or covering my two writing days a week plus subbing for Jeff, Jared, Case or Daryl.

Though major illness, surgery, power outages or about anything else you can imagine...the buck stops here, with me.  and, it should. It's my "child"...so to speak, and we are a daily. I just hope to find a nursing home down the road with good wi-fi, a nurse's aide that can type better than me and many great events to continue to happen at UofL with women's sports. 

KATIE MARTIN RUNS AND JUMPS HER WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

So, let's look at Katie Martin and her effort yesterday in the NCAA Regional Track and Field qualifier in Bloomington, IN. 

She represented Louisville in the 400 meter and her twelfth-place finish in the event got her qualified for the championships later in June in Eugene, OR. Mind you, the NCAA takes 12 from each Regional, so she jumped and ran through the door with a qualifying time of 57.93. That time was a tenth of a second over the next finisher (Selma Wright - Central Florida) and her finish of 58,03.

Martin's effort was her second best ever in the event. She joins seven other UofL athletes that will be travelling to the Finals. 

A couple of Cards who did not quite get there were Emily Scott in the high jump (15th place), and Katherine Coffey in the discus, Still, they gave their best efforts and were part of a women's track and field squad that had a very good season overall. It's interesting to note that Scott's jump of 1.81M tied the twelfth place finisher in the event,...and so did five other high jumpers. So, how do they determine a winner? You know the NCAA...if there is a way to make something that should be simple into a head-scratching, confusing, almost impossible to figure out determination, they'll do it every time. 

Here's the NCAA's tie-breaker procedure, which makes about as much sense to me as a llama caddying at the local golf course...I'm glad The Three Stooges were consulted and had the final say in something that should be relativize simple but doesn't end up that way. 

Tiebreaker procedures for vertical jump events:

• The competitor with the lowest number of jumps at the height at which the tie occurs shall be awarded the higher place.
• If the tie still remains, the competitor with the lowest total of failures throughout the competition up to and including the height last cleared shall be awarded the higher place.
• If the tie still remains:
  • 1) If it concerns first place, the competitors tying shall have one more jump at each height, starting at the next height in the original progression above the tying height and, if a decision is not reached, the bar shall be raised if the tying competitors were successful, or lowered if not, 2 centimeters in the High Jump and 5 centimeters in the Pole Vault. Competitors tying must jump once on each occasion when resolving the tie. Withdrawal from competition in a jump-off shall not affect participation in subsequent events or negate a competitor’s performance in that event.
  • 2) If it concerns any other place, the competitors shall be awarded the same place in the competition.

 

I'll leave you with that and hope you have a safe and nice rest of your Memorial Day weekend.

paulie

End is Near for Spring Sports -- WNBA Opening Day Soon -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Spring Sports Begin to Wrap Up

For spring sports such as lacrosse and women's tennis, the season has concluded. For many of our other spring sports, the end is in sight with few games or events remaining.

Rowing

May 11- May 14 is the ACC Championships for Louisville rowing. The Cards head to Clemson S.C. for the event. If Louisville can post a strong performance down there, we could see the Cards in the NCAA Championships over Memorial Day weekend.

The trip to #5 Michigan over the weekend did not fare well as Louisville did not claim a single race in the event.

Women's Golf

Starting next week, Louisville women's golf will compete in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Albuquerque Regional. The postseason appearance is the eighth straight for the Cards and the 14th overall in school history.

Louisville will go up against #2 Oregon, #11 Florida, #13 Texas, #23 Arizona, #28 Georgia, TCU, North Texas, Oklahoma, Sam Houston State, Northern Arizona, and New Mexico State.

The top four teams and top two individuals remaining not from those teams from the three-day, 54-hole tournament will advance to the NCAA Championship round.

Women's Track and Field

The Clark Wood Invitational signaled the end of the regular season for Louisville women's track and field. Louisville recorded four school records and eight total wins in the event.

The ACC Outdoor Championships begin this Thursday in Durham, N.C. It will be a three-day event. The women's field teams continue to dominate and have the potential to take home multiple ACC titles.

The NCAA Championships will start in late May and run into June.

Softball

The only team still in the regular season is Louisville softball. The Cards are fresh off a 2-1 series victory against Virginia to close out the home season. The Wahoos took the middle game with the Cards' victories sandwiching it.

Louisville visits UIC tomorrow night before visiting a ranked Notre Dame over the weekend.

The Cards have secured their spot in the 10-team ACC Tournament over May 11- May 14. Following that, the Cards are considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, with the NCAA Regional round beginning May 20.

Louisville controls its own destiny. The UIC game is a must-win. The Cards also need to steal at least one game from the Irish next weekend if not two. At 36-9 on the year, Notre Dame looks to be back in their glory days. Following that, an opening round win in the ACC Tournament is a must-win and anything beyond that is an added bonus.

WNBA Opening Day Friday

While we will be celebrating the Kentucky Oaks this Friday, the WNBA will be celebrating the start of their 2022 season. I do not actively follow professional basketball at any level, but always try to keep an eye out to see how our Cardinal greats are doing.

As of right now, these UofL alums appear to make the opening day roster:

Dana Evans- Chicago Sky

Emily Engstler- Indiana Fever

Kianna Smth- Los Angeles Sparks

Angel McCoughtry- Minnesota Lynx

Asia Durr- New York Liberty

Myisha Hines-Allen- Washington Mystics

The absence of Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook does come as a tad surprising. We found out the other day that Jones did not make the final roster for the Indiana Fever. Kylee Shook's old team, the New York Liberty, do not have her listed on their current roster, as she has decided to sit out the 2022 season. Things can always change and we could see either of them find themselves back in a WNBA jersey soon.

For now, we will try our best to provide updates on the six Cardinals actively on WNBA rosters when the season begins.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville Women's Track and Field Receives Honors -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

FORREST NAMED ACC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR.

Ah, the lick to have the writing assignment today here at Cardinal Couple, when there are no UofL women's athletics results to report, and not wanting to steal our other writers' headlines for laater this week. 

Louisville women's track and field probably doesn't get enough coverage here. Let's talk about some of the great academic honorrs they received from the ACC. 

Later on today, Dana Evans will hold a presser about the WNBA Draft. Some Cardinal Volleyball fans (including our own Jeff McAdams) are on their way to Omaha for the NCAA Tournament. Lacrosse has a huge weekend of matches against Syracuse coming up and Softball entertains Duke, while womens' soccer brings in Wake Forest. 

As we transition out of Louisville WBB and move forward in our spring sports coverage, let's use today to take a look at Louisville women's track and field

Makenli Forrest, a redshirt junior out of the Woodwaard Academy in Ellenwood, GA has received the ACC Track and Fieldd Scholar Athlete of the Year honors. She has maintained a 3.6 GPA during her time at Louisville -- and was also named  the ACC Field performer of the year for 2021. Her major is Exercise Science.

What is it that she does so well?  Makenli participates in throws for Louisville and her areas of specialty are the weight throw and the shot put.  She claimed the gold medal title in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships back on March 11th. He toss of 23.26 meters also broke the Louisville record of 22.76, set by D'Ana McCarty back in 2010. Forrest's toss was the best of any in the 2021 season. 

Louisville has had a long history of top throwers in Women's Track and Field. In addition to McCarty, remember Emmonnie Henderson? She set many records at Louisville from 2013-18 for the Cards in the shot and discus field events. She also played a little basketball at Louisville, as well. 

The NCAA record was set back in 2007, with a toss of 25.56. 

In addition to Forrest, several other Louisville women's track and field student-athletes earned All-Academic honors: 

-- Haley Hudson  (Williamstown, KY) This thrower was naked to the NCAA All-American Second Team and had made the Louisville Athletic Director's Honor Roll 11 times, the Dean's List seven times and is a six-time Red and Black Scholar. 

-- Gabriela Leon (Grand Rapids, MI) A Cardinal pole vaulter, Gabriela is a two time ACC Academic team selection and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll seven times and four times to the Dean's List and Red and Black Scholar list. 

-- Purity Sanga (Kapsabet, Kenya) Purity is a distance runner and transferred to Louisville from Tennessee Tech last season. She earned Athletic Director's Honor Roll and Red and Black Scholar honors as well. She earned a bronze medal in the ACC 5000m run

-- Auriane Viola (Schiltigheim, France) earned all-conference second team honors with a career-best mark in the pole vault to finish fifth in the ACC Championships. The marketing major is a two-time Red & Black Scholar and Dean's List honoree and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll three times.

-- Aliyah Welter (Monticello, Ill.) earned 2021 NCAA All-American second team honors in pole vault. The junior tied a school record with a vault of 4.32m (14-2) to place second in the 2021 ACC Indoor Championships, earning first team all-conference honors. The exercise science/sport administration major and two-time Dean's Scholar honoree, has been named to the Athletic Director's honor roll five times and is a three-time Red & Black Scholar.

Congratulations to these stellar UofL student athletes and their coaches. !!

paulie

Womens' Golf -- Swim and Dive -- Track and Field -- WEDNESDAY CARDINL COUPLE

 

Sports other than women's basketball take the headlines for today's Cardinal Couple column. Two are, thankfully, indoors -- as Louisville swimming and diving starts their quest in the ACC Championships in Greensboro and Louisville Track and Field hosts the Lenny Lyles Cardinal Invitational at the brand new Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville's West End. The third event was in "warmer than here" Melbourne, Florida.

WOMEN'S GOLF FINISHES 10th IN MOON INVITATIONAL

The Louisville women's golf squad wrapped up action in the Moon Golf Invitational yesterday.  The Cards fired a combined 3-over-par 291 to end up in tenth place overall in the event.  

Mairead Martin had the hot hand for UofL yesterday, firing a 3-under-par 69 in the final round. She ended up in a tie for 13th overall in the three day event with teammates Lauren Hartlage and Hana Ryskova. Hartlage carded a 1-under-par 71 on the final day and Ryskova fired a 77 on her final day. All three Louisville golfers toured the 54-hole event with a 215. 

Augustina Cisernos-Gomez had a 74 on the final day and finished 82nd with a three-day total of 231. Margot  Bechaderque's 81 on the final 18th gave her a three-day total of 234. 

First place in the event was taken by South Carolina, who finished at 24-under-par. Seocnd place went to LSU at 18-under-par. 

The Cards return to action March 13-14 in the Valspar Invitational in Augusta, GA. 

ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN TODAY FOR SWIM/DIVE

The Cardinal Women's Swim and Dive squads take part in the ACC Championships today at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. It's a four day session (Feb 17-20) for the Cards, who placed third in the Championships last year -- behind North Carolina State and 2020 winners Virginia. 

Louisville's Alena Kraus was named ACC Swimmer of the Week a couple of weeks for her performance in the 100 fly and 200 free events and is a contender to win both of these events in Greensboro for the Cardinal women. 

The Cards also hope to score well in the 200 medley relay, which they won against Cincinnati a few weeks ago. Louisville also had winning performances from Maddie Luther in the 1000 freestyle, and Ashlyn Schoof in the 100 backstroke. 

Louisville goes into the ACC Championships ranked 12th in the CSCAA poll from Feb 11th. Virginia is #2 in the poll and North Carolina State is #11. Other ACC women's swimming programs in the top 25 are #13 North Carolina, #14 Notre Dame, #15 Virginia Tech and #24 Duke.  The events can be viewed on ACCNX, from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. each day. 

LENNY LYLES/CARDINAL INVITATIONAL

The University of Louisville men's and women's track and field programs will host their inaugural indoor meet, the Lenny Lyles Cardinal Invitational on Wednesday at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center. The event will be the first indoor track and field meet staged in the newly constructed facility located at 3029 West Muhammad Ali Blvd.

"We are excited to host UofL's first-ever indoor competition on Wednesday," said UofL head coach Dale Cowper. "The Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center is as fantastic facility and we are thrilled that the Lenny Lyles Cardinal Invitational will be the first event held there."

In addition to Louisville, the meet will also feature Bellarmine, Eastern Kentucky and Notre Dame and is slated to start at 12 p.m.

Have a warm Wednesday! 

paulie

Shook, Jones Make the Cut -- Back to campus for some -- Leon, Forrest All-Americans -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NEW YORK LIBERTY ANNOUNCES FINAL ROSTER

University of Louisville WBB greats Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook are in the bigs. 

The New York Liberty announced their 12-player roster... along with the other WNBA franchises yesterday...and Jones and Shook are part of that roster, along with another former Cardinal great, Asia Durr. 

Head Liberty coach Walt Hopkins has a squad that will include six rookies, five former ACC players, three former UConn Huskies and the #1 WNBA draft pick -- Sabrina Ionescu. 

The WNBA has not come out yet with a starting date yet for team training camps, preseason games nor the regular season start. 

There is more good news for Louisville women's basketball fans. Angel McCoughtry is on the Las Vegas Aces 12-player roster and Myisha Hines-Allen is named on the Washington Mystics roster. 

The complete NY Liberty roster is listed below by player, position and former college: 



Rebecca Allen -- guard -- Australia
Layshia Clarendon -- guard -- University of California
Asia Durr -- guard -- Louisville
Sabrina Ionescu -- guard -- Oregon
Jazmine Jones -- guard -- Louisville
Kia Nurse -- guard -- UConn
Leanna Odom -- forward -- Duke
Kylee Shook -- forward -- Louisville
Kiah Stokes -- center -- UConn 
Megan Walker -- forward -- forward
Jocelyn Willoughby -- forward -- Virginia
Amanda Zahui B -- center -- Minnesota 


BACK TO CAMPUS TODAY FOR SOME

Across the NCAA Collegiate landscape today, a return to campus for certain student-athletes. At Louisville, Vince Tyra announced the proposed return of 30 football student-athletes today and 15 basketball student athletes. 

The first week will be one of instruction for the returnees. Safety, hygiene, social distancing and other important factors involved in staying free from the Coronavirus are on the agenda for those return. This is Phase I of the four phase return of student-athletes to the Cardinal Belknap campus.The return is voluntary. 

We have a request out to see just which UofL WBB student-athletes will show up today. To that point, we've requested an interview with Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz about which of his players will participate in the first group of instructions and open gyms (which is tentatively scheduled to occur in early June). We'll run that requested interview here if we get a confirmation.   

Just guessing here, but we probably won't see in the first group Norika Konno, due to the travel requirements and such from Japan.

Hailey Van Lith is finishing up classes and has yet to go through graduation ceremonies in Washington. Merrisah Russell is coming in from Canada, so there might be a delay there as well. 

Other later arrivals could include Kianna Smith and Ramani Parker, who both live in California. All this is purely speculation, though, and we've sent our Jared Anderson out to Louisville International Airport with a camera to park outside the arrival terminal and...

 --- nah, we're just kidding here about Jared -- we'll know when we know. 


GABRIELLE LEON AND MAKENLI FORREST ALL-AMERICANS

The University of Louisville’s Gabriela Leon and Makenli Forrest have been named 2020 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field All-Americans as announced by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) today.

Both earned the honor after qualifying for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships which were slated to be held March 13-14, but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out the complete release from the USTFCCCA here http://www.ustfccca.org/2020/05/featured/2020-ncaa-division-i-indoor-track-field-all-america

Forrest, a junior from Ellenwood, Ga., was one of just 16 athletes that qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship in the weight throw.  Her throw of 22.11m/72’06” at the Tyson Invitational ranked 11^th in the nation and she never finished out of the top four during the 2020 indoor season. This marks the third All-America accolade for Forrest, who earned first team honors after posting a runner-up finish in the hammer throw at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship. As a freshman she earned second team Indoor All-America honors after a 15^th place finish in the weight throw.

Leon (Grand Rapids, Mich.) set a school record mark of 4.40m/14’05” in the pole vault at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships and earned a second place finish while picking up first-team All-ACC honors for the second straight season. The junior entered the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championship ranked 11^th in the nation. As a freshman, she earned second team Outdoor All-America honors in pole vault.

Gabriela Leon – Pole Vault – USTFCCCA Indoor Track & Field All-American

Makenli Forrest – weight throw - USTFCCCA Indoor Track & Field All-American

Have a wonderful Wednesday!


paulie
xxxxx

Sunday Cardinal Couple - WBB Gameday and More

WBB Gameday vs Wake Forest

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons come to the KFC Yum! Center to play today at 2pm.  The Deacs come in on a three game win streak, and a mixed strength of schedule.

Of those last three, the best win probably was over Georgia Tech (12-3, 3-1), with Duke and Clemson both sitting at 1-3 in conference.  The loss in conference was a close one against Miami.  In the non-conference part of the schedule, wins over Dayton and Florida are certainly respectable, but a loss to East Tennessee State is a little concerning.

Wake Forest has already developed a feel for tight conference games in this young conference season with all four of those decisions being by five points or less.  Give the Deacs credit for grit and not giving up.

The high scorers for the Deacons are Ivana Raca (6'2" F) at 16.3 per game, Alex Sharp (6'1" G) with
12.7, Gina Conti (5'10" G) with 11.3, and Christina Morra (6'2" F) checking in with 8.2.  Wake has no one listed on their roster as a center.  They do have 6'4" Maya Banks listed as a Forward, but she doesn't see a huge amount of playing time.  The rebounding threat, and Wake statistically outrebounds their opponents, comes from Raca and Sharp.  Una Udoh (6'1" F) is the biggest blocking threat, but with only 12 on the season, that doesn't look to be a major consideration.  Raca, Sharp, and Conti can all hit threes with reasonable efficiency, but Sharp is the best sharpshooter on the squad, draining over 40% of her shots from distance.

How would I game plan for this game?  Well, I haven't been able to catch any of their games yet, but I would be looking to get touches by either or both of Bionca Dunham and Kylee Shook down in the paint on every trip down the court.  Wake doesn't seem to have size that can deal with them.  I wouldn't expect the four guard lineup from Louisville today, unless we see Wake start to punish the Cards from three range.

The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra with tip-off at 2pm.  Take your pick of game promotions as they seem to be a bit overloaded today.  Disney Day, Spirit Day, Faculty Appreciation Day, and the $10 Family Meal Deal are all on the calendar for today. We always recommend that you check out Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson and their descriptive account of the Cards WBB squad on Cards Radio 790 AM WKRD.

Head downtown this afternoon to see the best sports squad
on the Belknap Campus do work against a challenging ACC foe. The WBB squad won't be back in the YUM! for 11 days after this afternoon's contest, so catch them today!

Track and Field

Track and Field took to the indoor track at Purdue in the inaugural Gene Edmonds Memorial Invitational and saw quite a few successes with eight wins on the second and final day.

Gabriela Leon took wins in both Pole Vault and Long Jump with the Cards also picking up 3rd and 4th place in both of those events.

Rashida Harris took first in Shot Put on the women's side, with Christian Buckley getting the win on the guy's side.

Kayla Alexander took the victory in the 60 Meter Hurdles, and Sharnae Alston broke the tape in the 60 Meter Dash.

Guys wins to round out the eight victories went to Trey Allen in the High Jump, Sterling Warner in the 60 Meter Dash, and Cameron Stephens in the 3000m.

(Photos today from Jared, Paulie, godeacs.com and gocards.com) 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We continue to work on the new format for the CCRH.  Digital Audio recording and streaming is really hard and fiddly to get right.  We were at the NorthEast Regional Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library yesterday, and while the equipment was a little limited, and the space was...cozy...for three of us, we were able to stream a show.  The audio starts out...not great, though it does improve some later in the show.  In general, we liked the space and I'll be working with the staff at LFPL to bring other improvements to our show and their overall setup.

I've done a bit editing work on the following audio-only link, that should be a bit easier to listen to:
https://ccrh.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/podcast-audio/2020-01-11%2011-00-16.mp3

If you want to see the slideshow of Jared's photos from the Duke game, the video with them in it is below.  The slideshow starts at just over 18 minutes into the video.

-- 

JMcA

Karen Ferguson Dayes Interview -- A History of Women's Sports Chapter 11: Track and Field -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

KAREN FERGUSON DAYES INTERVIEW

Louisville Women's Soccer comes off an NCAA appearance last season, a season that was head coach Karen Ferguson Dayes 19th. at UofL. I got the chance to interview "Coach KFD" earlier this week at the Lynn Stadium offices and we bring that interview to you today. 

She returns a strong roster that has pre-season ALL-ACC selection Emina Ekic at midfield and the other top two leading scorers from last year (Maisie Whitsett and Brooklyn Rivers.).

Louisville has been picked to finish eighth in a preseason poll in the ultra-competitive ACC conference that sent 10 of their 14 squads to the NCAA Tournament last year.

Louisville's season begins on Aug 17th. with an exhibition against Butler at Lynn Stadium

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LINK:  KAREN FERGUSON DAYES INTERVIEW

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(Thanks to Louisville women's soccer S.I.D. Kim Pemberton for her work in arranging this interview.) 


A HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SPORTS -- CHAPTER 11 -- WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

We move onto the tail end of our summertime project.  Today we will look at A History of Louisville Women’s Sports Chapter 11: Track and Field.  As always, we’ll refer to women’s track and field simply as track and field unless otherwise noted.

Louisville’s records trace track and field back to 1989 for outdoor. and 1992 for indoor.  They started with the Metro Conference and remained there through 1995.  UofL transitioned to Conference USA in 1996 and enjoyed a 10-year stint there.  They went to the Big East from 2005-2013 and visited the American Athletic Conference briefly in 2013.  Since 2014, Louisville track and field has participated in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Note: The men go back to 1976, several years before their women counterparts.

The Cards had moderate success in the Metro Conference, often finishing around 3^rd or 4^th.  Their time in C-USA was not great, with subpar finishes nearly every season.  Once in the Big East, Louisville took off and had 1^st place outdoor finishes five years straight and was often top three in indoor finishes.

Throwers D’Ana McCarty and Emmonnie Henderson are the most notable track and field star for the Cards.  D'Ana won the NCAA Indoor Weight Throw Championship back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. Emmonnie Henderson holds the school record for the shot put throw and also participated in the NCAA Championships  Dorcas Wasike, still on the squad for 2019, holds two school records for distance running and has also participated in the NCAA Championships. 

Dale Cowper is the current head coach for the track and field team at Louisville.  He holds the same position with the cross-country team as well, with several the student-athletes participating in both.  Cowper took over as head coach in 2013 after having been an assistant with the Cards from 2006-2013.  Several individuals have had breakout performances under his reins, including Edwin Kibichiy, Emmonnie Henderson, Dorcas Wasike, Makenli Forrest, Alexis Gibbons, and Gabriela Leon.

Prior to Cowper, Ron Mann was head coach.  He held that position from 2004-2013.  He was with Northern Arizona for 24 years before that.  During his time in Louisville he oversaw four student-athletes win six individual national championships.  Mann retired, resulting in Cowper’s promotion.

Cardinal Park has been home to the Cards since 2000.  Originally, the middle field was used by both soccer teams.  Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium- not to be confused with the new Lynn Family Stadium that houses Louisville City FC- opened in the fall of 2014, leaving track and field alone.  The facility can seat 2,200 people but can more than triple that with standing room early.  Cardinal Park hosts some of the largest track and field events in the country including the Lenny Lyles Invitational and the Louisville Invitational.

Most track and field events are free with some larger events charging admission.  However, there is plenty of room to grab a lawn chair and sit outside the chain link fence to watch UofL perform on campus.  If you’re lucky you might be able to climb to the top of Ulmer Stadium or Trager Stadium to get a good view. 

We strive to bring you the latest and greatest updated from Louisville Track and Field here at Cardinal Couple.  Stay tuned next week as we wrap up Chapter 12: Rowing, just in time for the start of the fall sports season!

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Sunday Cardinal Couple Track and Field and Baseball

Track and Field Wraps the Season

Makenli Forrest wrapped up the UofL Track and Field Season with a 22nd place finish in the discus at the NCAA championships in Austin, Tx.  The 49.47 meter throw was enough for Honorable Mention All-American honors for Forrest.

Forrest's earned a second team All-American honors for her hammer throw on Wednesday.

The NCAA Championships for Track and Field have wrapped up, leaving only one more potential championship for Louisville to compete for, and indeed only one more NCAA championship to be decided overall.

So let's talk about that...

Baseball Earns Omaha Berth

The Baseball team will be heading to Omaha to participate in the College World Series after
defeating East Carolina University in a 12-0 one hitter in the second game of the Super Regional series.

The game was moved forward about 3 hours to reduce the chances of the game being disrupted by rain.  It was a good decision as a light rain began to fall at about 3pm, about the time the game was originally scheduled to begin.

The only drama in this one was a progressing no-hitter after 8 innings by sophomore Bobby Miller that was broken up by a single hit by ECU in the 9th.

The no-hitter would have been the first no-hitter in the NCAA tournament since 2012, and the first ever in a Super Regional series.  As it turns out, however, that particular history book entry will go go Vanderbilt freshman Kumar Rocker, who was able to complete the deed later in the evening to even the series against Duke in Nashville.

At this point, Louisville is still the only team with their ticket punched to the College World Series in Omaha.  All of the other Super Regional series that started Friday are going to a deciding game 3 to be played today.  That include Duke at Vanderbilt, Michigan at UCLA, and Oklahoma State at Texas Tech.

Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup in Soccer is underway in France.  It began a couple of days ago and quite snuck up on me.

UofL does have a rooting interest in this one, in a game in action at the time of this writing with Jamaica matching up against Brazil in Pool C play.  Chinyelu Asher played her Senior year with the Cardinals in 2014 after transferring from Purdue.  Asher in American born, but her father is Jamaican, and she has played on the Jamaican national team for several years.

Brazil is currently without the services of their superstar Marta due to an injury suffered in practice several days ago.  She is actually available to play, potentially coming off the bench, but that is considered highly unlikely.

Brazil is considered a strong favorite in this game (as they are just about anytime they take the pitch), and currently lead 1-0 with a score in the 15th minute.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

(Vintage picture of three of the knuckleheads) 

In any discussion of world class teams, you won't hear the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour mentioned but we do enjoy ourselves, and believe we do bring the best coverage of UofL women's sports on the radio.

Our latest effort included a mid-game adjustment for a failed microphone and a quite challenging Cardinal Couple Quiz about softball. The "A" team knuckleheads were assembled, albeit briefly, in their entirety for the first time in quite some time.  

Check out the fun, and see Jared duck out early to get to Patterson Stadium for baseball, at the link below. He did go 4 for 5 during his abbreviated appearance, which earned him a "tie" for first place with Case and the honor of winning the one eared, toothpick holding bear with a sparking 80% success rate.

Tough quiz! See how you do on it at the link:

LINK: 

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/399836600628554/

-- 

JMcA