T&F Championships and Softball Brings in a Star -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Finish Up Track and Field Championships

Photo via UofL Athletics

Though the team didn't have as much success as they may have hoped in each individual event, Louisville women's track and field had a strong showing at the NCAA Championship meet for track and field. Synclair Savage was the headliner for the team, scoring eighth place in the long jump to earn Louisville a point. That point represented just the ninth time in program history that Louisville's women's team has scored a point at the national championship competition. It was Savage's second First Team All-American nod of the year, as she also earned the title in the indoor season. Aliyah Welter finished 12th in the pole vault, good for Second Team AA honors. The mark was her best finish at the championship meet and she became one of just eight Louisville athletes to qualify for the outdoor national meet three separate times. The 4x100m team of Taylor Herbert, Kiyah Yeast, Tiriah Kelley, and Synclair Savage was granted an Honorable Mention AA award. Through the heats at the event, the squad ran four of the five fastest relays in Louisville history.

Brooke Gray Named POTY

Louisville softball has known they would be adding Brooke Gray to the roster for quite some time. We've also known she was very good for awhile. It's now the time of year when everyone else is getting the opportunity to see how good she is. Ballard is going for a repeat in the state championship and they've got a good chance as they're 34-1 this season. Gray is 27-0 with a 0.68 ERA. That sterling record, along with a GPA over 3.0, got the attention of the award committee at Gatorade, as Gray has been named the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year. By winning the state award, Gray is automatically added to the semifinalist list for the national award. Gray will come into a Louisville pitching staff looking to fill a Louisville-area native sized void. We're looking forward to seeing her in red and black next year. I'm sure the stands will be packed with local fans, though the wardrobe won't match quite as well from Ballard as it did for the Roby family coming from Bullitt East. We wish the best of luck to Gray as the tournament continues and the final award is decided.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Coverage may be a little sparse and the crew might be a bit light today, but the show endeavors onward. After a late announcement of the tri-city neighborhood yard sale (Bancroft, Graymoor-Devondale, and Crossgate) being today, my hiatus from the show starts a little earlier than I expected. I'll be back eventually. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Tennis at Vandy; T&F at Notre Dame; ACC Academic Awards -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Tennis Falls to #9 Vanderbilt

After a 2-0 opening weekend, Louisville split their second weekend to sit at 3-1. After a trip to Nashville on Friday, the best the Cards can hope for this weekend is a split as well. Vanderbilt is ranked ninth in the country, and three of their entries (two singles and a doubles pair) are ranked in the top-55. Louisville was unable to make much of a dent in the rest of the lineup as the Cards won two matches, a singles and a doubles, to fall 6-1. Louisville's pair of Jamilah Snells and Cici Xin grabbed a doubles win, and Tyra Richardson picked up Louisville's only singles win (scoring them their only point). The Cards were unable to push any matches to three sets, but they did make multiple sets go to seven games. 

Vandy is a strong team from top to bottom, hence their national ranking, but Louisville will have only a short time to regroup as they return home to take on James Madison tomorrow. Including that match, the Cards are at home for six straight events, including the first two conference matchups against Clemson and Georgia Tech. Things get underway at 11AM at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center and video is listed on the schedule, so be sure to check it out.

Track and Field in Meyo Invitational

Tennis wasn't the only team in action yesterday, as Track and Field took part in Day One of the Meyo Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame. The Cards didn't pick up any wins, but they will have plenty more chances tomorrow. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was Synclair Savage not placing in the long jump. However, it is less of a surprise that she didn't perform well when you consider that she didn't perform at all. Louisville had two top-ten finishers in Alba Cuns Iglesias and Ariel Lawrence, but Savage sat this one out. Those weren't the only positive results for the Cards, though, as they ended the day with four top-five finishes. Lawrence came in fourth in the long jump, Claire Bushur finished fifth in the shot put, and Soledad Jean and Tiriah Kelley both finished second in the high jump and 200m, respectively. Kiyah Yeast finished 8th in the 200m and also qualified for the 60m, along with Olivia Jenkins, and they'll join Taylor Herbert in the semifinals for that event today. Jourdin Edwards also qualified for additional competition today, as she advanced in the 60m hurdles. 

The event gets back underway at 11AM today with the women's triple jump. The triple jump is one of just three field events for the women, along with the weight throw and pole vault. The rest of the day will be filled out with track until the event wraps up with the 4x400m relays at around 3:45.

Plumb is ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year

The ACC Academic Awards are trickling out for the fall and Aimee Plumb highlighted the success of the UofL field hockey program. Plumb was named the Field Hockey Scholar Athlete of the Year by the ACC as she joined 17 teammates on the All-ACC Academic Team. The requirements for that distinction are a 3.0 GPA in the previous semester, a 3.0 cumulative GPA, and participation in 50% of the teams' contests. The 18 awardees mark a program record (there are only 23 players on the roster), and Plumb's award is the second straight for UofL, after Alli Bitting took home the crown in 2021. 

Along with field hockey, the cross country results were announced, and Louisville had six runners on the women's team make the cut. In addition to six individual honorees, the women's track and field team had a cumulative 3.557 GPA.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The crew will be a bit light this week as Daryl and I will both be on the inactive list. Jared returns, though, so there will still be three on the call. The guys will discuss the WBB victory over Syracuse and look ahead to tomorrow's big matchup against UNC. The lack of a midweek game to recap means that they'll also have time to cover the ball mishap between Duke and FSU, so you can count on a WBB officiating rant from Jeff. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Cas