Triantafyllou Gets ACC Freshman of the week honors -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TRIANTAFYLLOU NAMED ACC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

First off, Happy May Day to you! If you'e not familiar with the state (it's actually a commonwealth, by the way)...May is pretty big here in Kentucky, they run the Kentucky Derby, of course, on the first Saturday in May and, this year,  the PGA Golf Championships will be held at Valhalla (on the outskirts of Louisville) later this month.

Louisville women's track and field has had their share of excellent  track and field athletes  over the years.  ILLIANA TRIANTAFYLLOU is a freshman pole vaulter that is among those. 

She was named the ACC Freshman of the Week  after her huge performance in the Clark Wood Invitational women's pole vault...clearing 4.18m (13-8.5), which tied the best jump in Cardinals women's history for a freshman, previously held by Gabriela Leon back in 2018. You remember Leon, don't you? She won the NCAA Pole Vault back in 2022. with a still all-time Uofl best of 4.75m. (14ft.7.5 inches) 

Illiana hails from Serres, Greece and her jump is the sixth best in the ACC this season. Triantfyllou joined the Cards in January and had finished second in the Greek National Champunship pole vaulting events back in 2023.

She also won tthe 2022 Greek U18 Championships. 

Pole Vaulting is one of those track and field events that never cease to amaze me, given the precise timing, positionong, technique and style needed to be good at it. I admired the athletes I participated in track and field with in hgh school that were proficient at the pole vault and I even tried to see if I could be a "vaulter" but never could get over the bar...and they set it prettty low for guys that were in tryouts  As the coaches finally told me, "You run around the track once and twice pretty good, stick with that"

I enjoyed trying the long jump and triple jump, but never could match what the best on the team were doing. One of my grade school buddies went onto do some great things in the pole vault in high school. 

In the Clark Wood, Louisville Track and Field also got a 4.18m vault out of Natalie Lark . It would appear the Cards have a fine arsenal of long jumpers to help them compete and possibly win a lot of those events in the next few years. 

The ACC Championshiips will occur May 9-11 in Atlanta, GA...A full scheule of events are  available for viewing on the ACCNX and a schedule can be found at: https://theacc.com/feature/outdoor-track-field-championships . 

paulie