The Louies -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Louies Final Awards

Photo by GoCards

The 2025 "The Louies" Award Banquet was held earlier this week. Following the conclusion of each school year, The Louies recognizes various categories such as leadership awards, newcomers, team moments, and special awards. Here are all of them women's sports winners:

UPS Leadership Award - Female

Gabi Albiero, Swim and Dive

Outstanding Seniors

Baylie McClellan, Ladybirds

Taylor Johnson, All Girl Cheer

Lindsey Hyden, Coed Cheer

Olivia Watson, Pep Band

Nayelis Cabello / Photo by Jared

Staff Support Member

Baylee Burke

Newcomer of the Year - Female

Nayelis Cabello, Volleyball

Tajianna Roberts, Basketball

Louisville Volleyball / Photo by Jared

Moment of the Year - Female

Volleyball defeating Pittsburgh in the Final Four to advance to the National Championship

Athletic Director Award

Anna DeBeer, Volleyball

Elena Scott, Volleyball

Jayden Ulrich, Track and Field

Anna DeBeer / Photo by Jared

Adidas High Performance Award - Female

Synclair Savage, Track and Field

Elena Scott / Photo by Jared

We were fortunate to witness many of these student-athletes and moments in person this past season. While some of these student-athletes have seen their collegiate careers come to a close, we still get to see some of them don a Louisville uniform next season.

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louie Awards -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Louie Awards

Last night was the annual Louie Awards, where Louisville Athletes recognizes various Louisville student-athletes and teams. The awards usually run on a calendar year and not a school year since several spring sports are still in action for a little while longer, so we did see some spring 2023 accomplishments make the list. Spring 2024 accomplishments are not eligible.

Cardinal Cup Award team - Rowing

Female CardsCARE team (community service) - Rowing

Female CardsCARE individual (community service) - Krista Wheeler, Swim and Dive

Highest Senior GPA - Minna Tremonti, Field Hockey

Female Teammate of the Year - Gabby Holloway, Softball

Female Rookie of the Year - Lucy Mehraban, Swim and Dive

Female 2024 UPS Leadership Award - Anna DeBeer, Volleyball

Highest Female GPA team - Soccer, 3.743 Fall 2023

Female Moment of the Year - Taylor Roby single-season home run record with 23, Softball

Female Adidas High Performer Athlete of the Year - Anna DeBeer, Volleyball

Spirit Squad Outstanding Seniors - Makayla Kempf (Ladybirds), Alyssa Freitas (All-Girl Cheer)

There were also several awards dedicated to male athletes, men's teams, and overall awards that went towards male individuals or teams. The Team Moment of the Year was when Louisville football upset then-#10 Notre Dame, which was the second straight season Louisville defeated a top-10 team at home and rushed the field. 

While our time with some players have concluded like Taylor Roby or are almost over like Gabby Holloway, there are plenty of moments to cherish and remember. We also have plenty to look forward to with other players like Anna DeBeer, who will return for a fifth year in the fall, and Lucy Mehraban, who still has three more years of eligibility remaining.

This is always something to look forward to late into the school year to reflect back on how things went. For someone like me, it's cool to see how many events or student-athletes I have seen in person.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

The Louies -- FH Announces Signees -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Louies

Last night, Louisville Athletics held their annual Louie Awards.  Vince Tyra kicked off the night and was preceded by Sean Moth.  Then, Celene Funke (Cards Softball), Jazmine Jones (Cards WBB) and "Fresh" Kimble (Cards MBB) took over.

Tyra provided us with some positive updates.

 UofL had the highest GPA in the ACC.  Of course, with how often we talk about academic accomplishments, this comes as no surprise, but still a good reason to be proud of our student-athletes.  Also, UofL was on pace for the highest finish in school history in the College Cup standings.

Here is a list of the awards and their recipients:

Female Freshman of the Year: Aiko Jones, volleyball

Male Freshman of the Year: Alex Binelas, baseball

Male Sophomore of the Year: Matthias Schmid, golf

Female Sophomore of the Year: Makenli Forrest, track and field

Record Breaking Performance: Nicolas Albiero, swimming and diving

Breakthrough Athlete: Tutu Atwell, football

Comeback Athlete of the Year: Andrej Barna, swimming and diving

CardsCare Community Service Team: Lacrosse (women) / Baseball (men)

CardsCare Community Service Individual: McKenzie Kelley, ladybirds

Humble and Hungry: Sarah Hernandez, soccer

Pep Band Member of the Year: Allison Doimer

Cheerleader of the Year: Kristen Wells

Ladybird of the Year: Sarah Parker

Men's Cardinal Cup: Baseball

Women's Cardinal Cup: Lacrosse

Male Junior of the Year: Jordan Nwora, basketball

Female Junior of the Year: Mercedes "Mechi" Pastor, field hockey

Female Senior of the Year: Jazmine Jones, basketball

Male Senior of the Year: Dwayne Sutton, basketball

Male Leadership Award: Cody Cochran, soccer

Female Leadership Award: Meghan Nay, golf

Moment of the Year: Volleyball Upsets #2 Texas to Advance to Elite Eight

Inspiration Award: Football

Female Adidas High Performance Athlete of the Year: Dana Evans, basketball

Male Adidas High Performance Athlete of the Year: Reid Detmers, baseball

L1C4 Louie Award: Blanton Creque, football

A huge round of "well done" and congratulations to these recipients. And, to all the hard-working student athletes at UofL, for setting the bar, achieving it and making a difference.


Field Hockey Announces Three Signees

A bright spot to the week was field hockey announcing three new players to join the Cards for the 2021 season.  All three join us from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Paulina Mayer joins the Cards from Manheim, Germany.

Charlie Van Oirschot hails from Haarlem, The Netherlands.

Aimee Plumb, comes to Louisville from Canterbury, England.

Cardinal Couple will reach out to see if we can hear from Justine Sowry in the next few days regarding the three commits.

Field Hockey posted a 16-6 record in 2019 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.


Maybe, maybe not.

On a side note, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu had a discussion on who would have won the NCAA Championship this year.  Both agreed it would have been Oregon.  My thoughts?  Not so much.

More like a team that wears Red and Black.

Let's not forget that UofL WBB defeated Oregon, on a neutral court, 72-62 to win the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. Louisville won the regular season ACC Title and Kylee Shook went for 18 points and 15 rebounds against the Ducks. Dana Evans delivered two huge, three-point daggers against the Oregon defense and had 17 points and six assists.

What's your thoughts?



Welcome to May

It is the first day of May, in case social quarantining has you a bit nebulous and confused as to the who, what, where, when and why's of daily life.

A Friday, and a huge day here in the city of Louisville, as the Kentucky Oaks would have been run at Churchill Downs. The first Friday in May is the second most attended day of the year at Churchill Downs...in normal times...and features the best three-year-old fillies in the world "running for the lilies".

It's also Breast Cancer Survivor Day and those brave individuals/survivors of this terrible disease would normally be honored at the track with a walk down the stretch -- as a predominately pink-dress crowd gives them some love and encouragement as they parade in front of the gtandstands and clubhouse. 

Happy Friday, Happy Original Oaks Day, stay safe, and Go Cards!

Jared

The Louies -- Derby Week -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Louies

Basketball

For the first time ever The Louies Student-Athlete Awards Show will be virtual.  In years past, we saw the student-athletes throw on their best attire and get together for the event. The event is tonight, Thursday April 30th., at 8 p.m.

The only hosts should be pretty familiar faces- Celene Funke, Jazmine Jones, and Lamar "Fresh" Kimble (men's basketball).

Lacrosse

The Louies will be live streamed on the GoCards Facebook and Twitter accounts and will be open to the public for viewing.

Awards such as Breakthrough Student-Athlete of the Year, Moment of the Year, Freshman-Senior of the Year, and CardsCare are all given out.

Make sure to tune in at 8:00 p.m.tonight, to enjoy some time reflecting back on the sports from this past school year and to see some of your favorite student-athletes.

I did some digging but found these photos from some of the teams from last year.

Field Hockey

Soccer

Softball

Derby Week

Had it not been for COVID-19 we would be in the final days of our two-week party.  Today should have been the Pegasus Parade with tomorrow being Oaks and Saturday Derby.

Instead, we are all still stuck at home and trying to social distance ourselves in hopes that things return to normal soon.

There was some good news, however, when it was announced that Churchill Downs would be able to reopen May 11 with the potential of races starting up on May 14.  All of this would be without spectators, but is still a promising sign.

It also gives us hope of a normal fall sports season, which would normally start in late-August.

I'm somewhere in here!

As a former Cardinal Marching Band member, this was a busy time as Derby Day was a long day for us.  It was highlighted by the playing of "My Old Kentucky Home" right before the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.  The Official Band of the Kentucky Derby switched things up this year and took recordings from current members and alumni and pieced together a video of about 100 performers.  It will be released Saturday and you can see yours truly in the mix on euphonium.

Remember to stay safe!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louie Honors -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

AWARD NIGHT! 

Once a year, University of Louisville student athletes gather to honor their own. The ceremony is called "the Louies" . They celebrate the successes of the various Cardinal athletes and squads. A time for dressing up and a time for joy. 

The Louies took place last night. Historic Brown Theatre was the venue. A wide variety of accomplishments and successes are covered on this very special night for Louisville Athletics and we think they all "clean up pretty well" for this occasion to embrace their collegiate peers. 

The adidas High Performance Athlete of the Year was awarded to Asia Durr (WBB), Mallory Comerford (W.Swimming) and Nick Albiero (M.Swimming). This is the highest individual award a Cardinal can receive in relationship to the Louies ceremony and certainly well-earned and deserved by all three.

Arica Carter received the L1C4 award. This is another high honor and goes to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the meaning of the athletic department's culture: humble and hungry. 

Softball's Celene Funke was named the female Breakthrough athlete for her scintillating sophomore season. She has rapidly become the voice, the spirit leader and the excitement example of Louisville Softball. 

Soccer's Emina Ekic took down the Comeback Player of the Year. After a devastating injury to end the 2017 season, she roared back and earned second team All-American honors in 2018. 

The full list below. A hearty and sincere "Congratulations!!" from all of us at Cardinal Couple to these student athletes and squad who have brought us so much joy on the venues of competition! 

It is said that one of the highest accomplishments one can receive is the recognition for a job well done by one's peers. 

The Louies embodies that. 

adidas High Performance Athlete of the Year
Male: Nicolas Albiero (swimming and diving)
Female: Mallory Comerford (swimming and diving) and Asia Durr (women's basketball)

L1C4 Award 
Arica Carter (women's basketball)

Record-Breaking Performance
Simon Zach (men's golf)

Breakthrough Athlete
Celene Funke (softball)
Jordan Nwora (men's basketball)

Comeback Player of the Year
Emina Ekic (women's soccer)

Best Championship Performance 
Women's Swimming and Diving

Moment of the Year 
Mallory Comerford winning her third national championship

Kentucky Farm Bureau CardsCARE Individual
Noah McBride (track and field)
Emily Corso (rowing)

Kentucky Farm Bureau CardsCARE Team
Field Hockey

UPS Leadership Award
Male: Christen Cunningham (men's basketball)
Female: Emily Howell (women's lacrosse)

Outstanding Senior Cheer Award 
Emily Mattey

Outstanding Senior Ladybird Award 
Sydney Thompson

Outstanding Senior Pep Band Award 
Kayla Goodman

Freshman of the Year
Men: Bartosz Piszczorowicz (swimming and diving)
Female: Violette Legrand (rowing)

Sophomore of the Year
Male: Logan Wyatt (baseball)
Female: Mercedes Pastor (field hockey)

Junior of the Year
Male: Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (men's tennis)
Female: Dorcas Wasike (cross country)

Ed Kallay Senior of the Year
Male: Tate Schmitt (men's soccer)
Female: Ayeisha McFerran (field hockey)

Humble & Hungry Award
Celene Funke (softball)

Highest Senior GPA
Abigail Wright (track and field)

Highest Team GPA
Women's Swimming and Diving