Louisville women's Swimming in third going into final day of ACC Championships -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

COMERFORD TOPS IN 200 FREE

Going into the final day of the ACC Swimming/Diving Championships...Arthur Albiero's Swim and Dive squad sits in third place...registering 674.5 points. NC State leads the way with 776.5, Virginia has 750 and the Cards are ahead of UNC...who has 665. 

I'll be quite honest, I don't fully understand the scoring system of swimming...but you have to be encouraged by Coach Albiero's statements last night: 

"I am proud of how we performed today. We had  18 swims this morning and all 18 qualified to swim in tonight's finals," said Arthur Albiero, UofL head coach. "That being said, we positioned ourselves to challenge for our best ACC finish in school history. Our seniors have continued to set the tone and our freshman are learning quickly. Looking at tomorrow, we train exactly for the day 4 prelim session. I am looking forward to watching our team tomorrow." 


Mallory Comerford took first in the 200 Free with a 1:41.70. It was a second better than the nearest competitor and set a meet, pool, ACC and school record for the distance. 

In the 100 Breaststroke, Andrea Cottrell touched second with a 58.81. She was narrowly edged out of first by Virginia's Laura Simon's 58.46. Cottrell is the defending ACC champ at the distance and meet record holder. 

The 400-Medley Relay team of Alina Kendzior (52.65), Andrea Cottrell (58.65), Grace Oglesby (52.44) and Mallory Comerford (46.71) won silver with a time of 3:30.45. Kendzior led off the backstroke leg and was fourth, next in the water Andrea Cottrell handed over a second place to flyer Grace Oglesby, who was third before Mallory Comerford anchored and made up a place for the runnerup slot. NC State took gold, clocking in at 3:28.26.
The 2017 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships resume Thursday morning at 10 a.m. with the preliminaries in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and the men's and women's platform diving. The finals for those events, in addition to the final heat of the 1650 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay, begin at 6 p.m.


PAULIE PICKS

A rare Thursday where UofL WBB isn't playing. Six games on the ACC slate tonight. Let's have a look: 

NC State goes to Boston to stalk the Eagles. They should have no problem robbing this bird nest and bakes the Beantown team. Wolfpack. 

Notre Dame heads to the land of boiled peanuts and faces Clemson. They grab these Tigers by the tail and do an Irish jig and Riverdance for a win. ND

Georgia Tech drives the 'Ramblin Wreck to Chapel Hill and tries not to get stuck in the TarHeels garage. We'll go with these Engineers solving the NC equation. GT. 

Pittsburgh defends the Pete against a feisty bunch of Gobblers. Maybe the closest game of the night, we see the felines surviving against the Hokies. Pitt.  

Florida State goes on the warpath in Wahoo Country. The Cavs will put up a strong fight...but this one should give Chief Osceloa a victory dance chance. FSU.

Duke takes I-40 West to Winston-Salem and takes a hike in Trees territory. Wake needs a win to stay on the NCAA bubble but the Devils will get the win. Duke. 

Splashing Time Returns -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

COMERFORD, COTRELL BACK IN THE WATER FOR UOFL SWIMMING

Sometimes, we get a little too wrapped up about UofL women's basketball in the winter months (not that this is a bad thing) and forget there are other things going on down on the Belknap Campus. One of those things is swimming and the strokers and divers jump right back into action after the Christmas break. 

When you think of swimming and UofL, obviously the first name that comes to mind is Kelsi Worrell. Now graduated, who will carry on in her proficiency and victories? 



One name we'll offer up is Mallory Comerford. The Kalamazoo, MI. sophomore is a free-style specialist. She is ranked in the top 25 in the world. Teaming up with Worrell, she also was part of the winning 400 free relay team in the SC World Championships in early December.  She won the silver medal in the NCAA 200 Free Championships last season and is a key component on the 200-yard freestyle relay team for Arthur Albiero. A multiple ACC Swimmer of the Week award recipient last season...you can expect her to hit the wall first as the season progresses. 

Another key performer in the Ralph Wright Natatorium on campus is senior Andee Cottrell. Considered one of the best breaststroke swimmer in the ACC and NCAA, the Reynoldsville, OH senior won the 2016 ACC 100 breaststroke and is another key component on the Cardinal "A' relay teams. 

Other names to know: Casey Fanz. The freshman from Powhatten, VA has put up some impressive numbers is the back and in relays so far in the early season. Abbie Houck is a senior out of Boulder, CO and specializes in the free...an All-ACC performer for two years. Hannah Magnuson is a local talent, out of Christian Academy and the junior has won multiple meets in the butterfly and as a relay participant. Toss in the pool Rachel Grooms, Alina Kendzier, Silvia Guerra, Avery Braunecker and Feldma Bradford and you have 10 top-flight performers that should lead Louisville to a lot of wins the rest of the season.

Albiero has built a dynasty in his 14 seasons as the Cardinals head coach. He was in on the ground floor of the Ralph Wright and oversaw the plans for the construction of the state-of-the art facility. He keeps the water in the family as well...his son Estefan is a senior free stylist on the Louisville men's team and his wife Amy the head coach at Christian Academy high school. 

Albiero explains his philosophy: 

" One of my strengths is my relationship with the student-athletes. I am demanding..but reasonable. I believe you have to enjoy the process of preparation and you have to have fun to swim fast."  

The #8 ranked splash-and-dive Cards return to action January 6th. in the "Ralph" against Missouri.  The Cards will have four meets at home before they enter the ACC Championships in mid-February. 

#9 Cards Women's Swimming splashing past FSU -- Saturday Cardinal Couple

Two Cards Mulitple Race Winners Friday

Cards Volleyball shed clothes to support swim team

The University of Louisville swimming teams are in the middle of a two-day battle against ACC foe Florida State at the Ralph Wright Natatorium and Day One went swimmingly well for both the UofL men and women.

The #5 ranked men lead 110.5 - 56.5. Arthur Albiero's women are up 109-58 after Friday competition.

Albiero discusses the event an results:

"It's been a while since we raced and I think it showed a little bit tonight here and there. We have done a lot of training since we last raced...so that is not unusual. We just have to continue to make little adjustments. I liked our effort and there were some great races."

Louisville women's soccer supporting swimming

Kelsi Worrell won two events...the 200 free relay and 100 free. Tanja Kylliainen finished first in the 200 IM and 200 fly. Other winners for the slashing Louisville ladies:

--  Marah Pugh took the 500 free. Abby Chin got third.

--  Andrea Cottrell won the 100 - breast.

--  LOUISVILLE swept the 200 back. Erica Belcher touched first...followed by Ashley Le Clair and Hannah Magnuson.

The squads return to action this morning at 10 a.m. Requests to do our Saturday morning CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO SHOW from the pool wearing floaties and water-wings were denied. 

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It may be frigid in Louisville this morning...but WBB and other Cardinal women's athletics are heating up and we'll talk about it this morning at 11 a.m. on the weekly edition of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on 100.9 FM WCHQ and also streaming live on the internet at crescenthillradio.com

Hoops, softball, lacrosse, swimming and more to cover. We'll have a Worldwide Quiz and you just never know who will stop by the basement on a hill and chime in.

Marconi probably would have ceased transmission if he
knew his efforts were leading to the CARDINAL COUPLE
Radio Hour broadcasts...

It's radio in a way Marconi never envisioned it. Of course, he probably never envisioned marconi and cheese, either.

(What's that you say? Macaroni and Cheese? OK!! Serve it up. Today's CARDINAL COUPLE will be cut dramatically short if a good baked (not box mix) mac and cheese shows up at the studio. Or we'll do a food-based show).  

C'mom along if you dare...linkie below:

MAMA !! THOSE MEN ARE ON THE ELECTRIC RADIO AGAIN !!


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You only have four days left to enter the January Cardinal Couple Contest and win a designer-like CARDINAL COUPLE T-Shirt. Stylish folk on the left bank in Paris would pay huge euros for something like this and we're giving you one if you are the "winner, winner...chicken dinner"!! Thanks to all that have entered and keep those e-mails coming...

Don't forget to e-mail us your pick in our January CARDINAL COUPLE CONTEST. This month the contest is...

How many points will Mariya Moore score in January? Your prize is a CARDINAL COUPLE T-SHIRT!!! (and the respect and admiration of the staff chimps here at CC). Regular reader The Real Joe Hill is going with 110. 

E-mail to: 

cardinalcouple@twc.com  

REMEMBER WE NEED YOUR SELECTION IN BY JANUARY 14TH 1:00 PM


Our erstwhile and lackadaisical operations manager Sonja (ineligible for the contest -- she received poor grades last semester in potato chip procurement and already has a shirt...obtained by methods we're still investigating) says the Ms. Moore will toss in 88 points for the month of January. Remind me to dock her pay...

paulie