Summer Draws Nearer -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Onset of the Summer Slump

If you're familiar with Cardinal Couple, or with college sports in general, you'll be familiar with the dreaded summer slump. This comes as all spring sports wrap up their post seasons and we're left with season recaps and previews along with checking in on former Cards in various professional atmospheres for a few months. It isn't as bad if you're a follower of men's sports. By the time baseball ends, people are already gearing up for the opening weekend of football season. If you keep up with professional sports at all, you've got baseball to keep you company, soon to be followed by the NBA draft and Summer League. Here at Cardinal Couple, when that last result comes in for whichever team happens to be holding on the longest, we change focus and await our fall sports to arrive.

If you're living in the Ohio River Valley, you'll recognize that summer is nearly upon us. As happens sometimes, Mother Nature has decided to skip the season formerly known as "Spring," as we're seeing mornings in the mid 60s followed by days with highs in the 90s. This is coming after a less than entirely pleasant March and April. Of course, despite "skipping" spring, we're still left with the abysmal pollen count as is the norm here. It's not the heat that bothers me, though, it's what the changing of the seasons signifies. As much as we'd like to deny it, the Summer Slump is almost here.

Track and Field in Second

After two days of competition at the ACC Outdoor Championships, Louisville finds themselves in 2nd place on both the men's and women's side of competition. While the standings look exciting, it is important to note that only 8 of 21 competitions have been scored so far. Today, the final day of competition, will be filled with final results, which the Cardinals will look to use to maintain, or improve upon, their standings. Although yesterday was a great day of results for the men, the women could have fared better. Outside of a silver in the heptathalon by Holly Hankenson, Louisville did not make much noise. The only other top five finishes for the Cardinal women yesterday came from 4th and 5th place finishes by Alexis Gibbons and Renate van Tonder in the long jump. If you'd like to keep up with the final day of the ACC Championship meet, field events begin at 11 AM and running events will get underway at 5 PM.

Louisville Laxxers Earn Region Honors

After being named to the All-ACC Second Team, Caroline Blalock and Emily Howell have continued to pick up hardware following the end of the Louisville Lacrosse season. Both players were named to the IWLCA D1 All-Region Second Team. Being named to a regional team makes a player eligible to be named an All-American, which is an honor regardless of the "level" of team to which the player is assigned. Per the Louisville athletics site, this is the 9th consecutive year that multiple Cardinals have been named to an All-Region team.

While Louisville will miss Emily Howell next year, as she is a senior, they're in for more Caroline Blalock. Blalock was a team leader in numerous categories, and is a particularly apt goal scorer. Scott Teeter did not come in and magically turn the program around, and I think it would be completely unfair to have expected him to do so. However, with players like Blalock and some of the surprising results that the team turned in this year, I think that it will be only a short time before this team is competing with the best of the best in the ACC and the nation. Louisville has shown in the past that it can succeed in women's lacrosse, and I think they're on the cusp of continuing that success.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After a week off due to Derby festivities, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is back on the air this week. After dumping crutches this week (I'm still in a boot and have to use crutches when I'm not wearing it), I'll be returning to the studio for the first time since my injury. I'm excited to be back and help the other guys bring you the joy and excitement of UofL Women's Sports. Tune in at 11AM to WCHQ FM. There are many ways to listen to the show, including your FM radio programmed to 100.9, the WCHQ website, the WCHQ app, and the WCHQ Facebook page. If you aren't able to catch the show live, the rebroadcast is (nearly) always available online the day following the show.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-