Summer -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Hello readers, and happy weekend! I was glad to unplug and get out of town last week and appreciate the gangs coverage. I saw a tweet the other day that said something about how it was engrained into our brains for 12 years how summer is this 'big break' or when we were supposed to go out and do all the things and I really felt that tweet. Of course it all revolves around the school-year and practically every sport season break so give us some summer picnics, movie premiers, pool days, traveling and lots of golf to fill in the blanks! Then the weeks just fly by don't they?

I did play pretty well in Florida last week. It was a scorcher down there but we got 36 holes in... I birdied on a Par 4 and pretty much played better than the other 5 on Thursday's 18. I also got invited back to the UofL Press Box Challenge again this year, which I am very much looking forward to in a few weeks. This event is what got me into golf to begin with! It will be my third year playing. I'm still chasing LPGA dreams, y'all! 

                          

 (The ladies stole the show both
days out on the course!) 

Track and Field 

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

After winning the NCAA Championships Pole Vault. the redshirt senior from Grand Rapids, MI -- Gabi Leon can now add the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Southeast Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year as announced by the organization today. There are nine regions – Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain, Northeast, South, South Central, Southeast and West . Leon became the fourth-ever collegiate women's pole vaulter with three clearances of 4.60m (15' 1") and the only woman this season with three marks over 4.57m (15' 0").

Tennis 

ALL ACC ACADEMIC TEAM

UofL women's tennis player, Tatiana Simova, has been named to the All-ACC Academic Team.   ACC Champion Duke led the league with seven players on the academic team. Duke's Chloe Beck has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

  

(We also successfully avoided the sunburn!)

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast -  I'll be out again this weekend for our podcast with an appointment but the rest of the gang should be on the recording for this week.  Stay hydrated in this heat and a friendly tip would be to carry a frozen water bottle whenever you have to leave the house and as my dermatologist would like to remind you, don't forget the sunscreen! 

As Always

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

INTERVIEW WITH COACH MAHAN --Louisville Field Hockey --- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLR

 INTERVIEW WITH MALACHI MAHAN

I had the chance to interview...via phone... new assistant Louisville Field Hockey coach Malachi Mahan Thursday and had an informative talk with him. We covered many aspects during the talk -- his interest in Louisville, his Field Hockey background, philosophy and coaching style and how he became Justine Sowry's latest assistant coach.

Turns out he is still active as a player in Field Hockey and will be participating in a tournament with his team in California this Memorial Day weekend. 

NOTE:

(Unfortunately, the recording quality and clarity through Soundcloud was less than I anticipated. I found out later...after the interview... that the site has been having a myriad of technological problems as of late, so the 12 minute + interview has an annoying "popping" sound and you may need to crank your volume to hear it well. Such are the difficulties in technology these days.) 

Nevertheless, the interview is below. 

COACH MAHAN INTERVIEW

THREE QUALIFY FOR NCAA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS

Gabriela Leon, Aliyah Welter and Synclair Savage all punched their tickets for the NCAA Championships in track and field yesterday at the Regionals in Bloomington. 

Leon and Welter will represent the Cards in the pole vault and Savage in the long jump. 

The two pole vault specialists cleared heights of 4.31M (14-1.75} to qualify for the championships in Oregon. In the long jump, Savage performed a leap of 6.32 (20-9} to make the finals. 

congratulations to these three and good luck in representing the Cards in Eugene ! 

 

paulie

Louisville Places 467 on AD Honor Roll -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Places 467 Student-Athletes on Athletic Director's Honor Roll

The brilliant minds of the Louisville student-athletes deserves recognition. Yesterday, Louisville announced the 467 student-athletes were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

To qualify, student-athletes must have a 3.0 GPA or better. This was the 23rd straight semester where all student-athletes combined for higher than a 3.0 GPA. The average GPA for the spring semester was 3.256.

Louisville achieved a 91% graduation rate per a report by the NCAA. This is the best mark for a graduation rate at UofL.

Field hockey had the best mark for the 2021-2022 school year with a team GPA of 3.827.

Lacrosse had the most individual members reach a 4.0 with nine student-athletes reaching the mark.

Besides being one of the top athletic programs in the country in terms of on-the-field success, Louisville prides itself in being one of the top academic athletic programs as well.

POLE VAULTERS TODAY AT 1:30

The trio of UofL women's pole vaulters will compete today in the NCAA Track and Field Regionals in Bloomington, IN today at 1:30 p.m. ET. 

Gabriela Leon, Aliyah Welter and Auriane Viola will try to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Oregon in June

We'll have a recap of how all the Cardinals women do today, plus Paulie will feature an interview with new Louisville Field Hockey coach Malachi Mahan in the Friday Cardinal Couple. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Learfield IMG Director's Cup -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville Breaks Top 25 in Learfield IMG Director's Cup

Louisville came in sitting at #23 in the latest release of the Learfield IMG Director's Cup. The Cardinals have accumulated 429 points from the fall and winter seasons. A total of 250 colleges and universities are listed and receive ratings based on performances from their different sports.

The Cards earned 73 points from women's basketball, fifth best. The Cards advanced to the Elite Eight and had the ACC Player of the Year in Dana Evans, who was then drafted 13th overall in the WNBA Draft. 

Men's swimming and diving received 75 points, fifth best. Nick Albiero was named the ACC Men's Swimmer of the Year and won the National Championship in the 200 butterfly. The team of Mitchell Whyte, Evgenii Somov, Nick Albiero, and Haridi Sameh Kamel won the National Championship in the 200 medley relay.

 

Women's swimming and diving received 63 points, 13th best. Although the Cards did not win any national championships on the women's side, the Cards performed well in the ACC Championships and NCAA Championships.

Women's indoor track and field earned 52.5 points, ranked 20th. Makenli Forrest won the NCAA Championship for the indoor weight throw.

Men's indoor track and field received 18.5 points for 53rd best.

In the fall sports, field hockey received 83 points. The Cards advanced to their first ever Final Four. Three Cards were named to the All-ACC team in Alli Bitting, Charlie van Oirschot and Pastor is a candidate for the NFHCA National Player of the Year.

Volleyball received 64 points. The Cards advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and had three All-Americans in Tori Dilfer, Anna Stevenson, and Anna DeBeer. Dani Busboom Kelly was named ACC Coach of the Year.

Women's soccer, men's soccer, men's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, and football did not earn points.

Louisville does not carry bowling, fencing, gymnastics, ice hockey, rifle, skiing, wrestling, or water polo so they did not receive any points for those sports.

The spring sports have not been added, but Louisville is not expected to earn points in softball, lacrosse, rowing, or baseball. Both women's tennis and men's tennis should earn some type of points for appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Women's golf and men's golf both qualified for NCAA Regionals and Lauren Hartladge competed in the NCAA Championships so both teams should earn points. It is uncertain if Louisville will receive points for the outdoor portions of women's and men's track and field.

Louisville does not carry water polo, beach volleyball, or men's volleyball so they will not receive points for those.

I would not be surprised to see the Cards drop from where they currently sit once spring sports are added due to the absence of many teams from the postseason. Having other teams such as men's basketball and football, who normally score for the Cards in the fall and winter, not score anything also hurt.

The top 25 teams are listed as follows:

1- Stanford

2- Michigan

3- North Carolina

4- Ohio State

5- Kentucky (national championships in volleyball and rifle contributed to 1/3 of their score)

6- BYU

7- Alabama

8- Minnesota

9- Arkansas

10- Florida

11- Texas

12- NC State

13- Iowa

14- Indiana

15- Notre Dame

16- Georgia

17- USC

18- Texas A&M

19- Wisconsin

20- Oklahoma State

21- Nebraska

22- Penn State

23- Louisville

24- Virginia Tech

25- Ole Miss

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Schedule Changes, Lacrosse looks to bounce back: FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Hello weekend, Louisville fans. Typical spring sports scheduling shifts thanks to the weather forecast.  The good news is that we will also look forward to 'Spring Forward' this weekend!  Roll the clock up an hour on Saturday night (if any of you still possess a digital or analog clock).

Softball schedule update

The most up-to-date change to the Cardinals softball schedule from what we know at CardCouple..  

SATURDAY @ Ulmer Stadium

CARDS vs Valparaiso (4-6, 0-0 MVC) 11:30AM

CARDS vs Western Kentucky (9-3, 0-0 C-USA) 4:30PM

Louisville's two opponents will face off in-between the Cards game so fans will have a chance to grab some lunch or take a walk around campus. 

 

 

I recommend the banana milkshake at Dairy Del and or Dairy Kastle's taco in a bag.. A couple wins for the Cards would be a nice cherry on top. Burger Boy on S Brook St. also makes a classic burger and fry plate if you're looking for a place with more food options.  I think all that should satisfy your game day hunger.  This has been your first edition of Daryl's game day pit stop for fans. Ha ha

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Daryl was not paid for these food establishment props.  Knowing her, shee's probably working on some kind of endorsement, though. ) 

LACROSSE GAMEDAY

#19 University of Louisville women's lacrosse travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich. for a matchup with Central Michigan on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

Coming off a hard-fought loss at No. 8 Virginia, the Cardinals are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in ACC action. The Chippewas enter Friday's game 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in MAC play.

NATIONAL CHAMPION - Women's TRACK & FIELD

University of Louisville senior Makenli Forrest captured the 2021 NCAA Indoor Weight Throw title with a heave of 23.26m (76-3.75) Thursday at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. The feat marks the third NCAA Indoor Weight Throw title in program history and the first since 2010 when D'Ana McCarty secured her second consecutive championship in the event.

Forrest's personal best mark breaks the school record of 22.76 (74-8.25) that stood prior to Thursday's competition, it also stands as the top collegiate throw this year.

One couldn't blame the Louisville Track and Field squad if they used an alternation from a popular move and exhorted "Throw, Forrest, THROW!"  when she enters the circle. 

Volleyball News

The VolleyCards are going to Durham for Volleyball, instead of playing Clemson, as originally scheduled.  They'll have Saturday and Sunday matches against the Blue Devils, as far as we know, for now. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'm making it a short one this week as the spring sport schedule is really starting to gear up, I am getting back into the swing of things with the button pushing career.  It was today last year that COVID really took hold of our country.  I'm grateful to see teams back on the fields! With the softball schedule changes, I will be out for radio tomorrow.  Case will also be taking the week off to be with his family.  Jared will likely be out at Ulmer to fulfill his button pushing duties as well.  So it looks like a classic edition of CCRHP with Jeff and Paulie to cover this week's event's and more. 

Be safe out there! & Go Cards 

~Daryl