NCAA Track and Field Championships begin today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

FOUR LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD STUDENT-ATHLETES IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

It all gets underway starting today in Eugene, Oregon for the 2022 NCAA Track and Field  Championships. 

Four members of the Louisville women's track and field squad will be taking part in the events  and Thursday will be their day to shine. Field events will have three of the Cardinals women participating, although none of them will be in the shot put or discus -- two areas where the Cards have excelled in past years. 

Gabriela Leon and Aliyah Welter will participate in the pole vault. Both cleared a height of 4.31m (14-1.75) in the NCAA East Regionals in Bloomington, IN to qualify for the Championships. Leon has cleared better -- at 4.61m (15-1.5) in the Clark Wood Invitational on the UofL campus. That vault set a school record, was tops in the ACC this season and the eighth-best outdoor vault in all-time NCAA . It's Leon's third time in the NCAA Championships, Welter is making her second appearance in the Championships. They jump around 9 p.m. ET Thursday

Synclair Savage will take part in her first NCAA Outdoor Championships in the women's long jump on Thursday at 10:00 p.m. ET. Savage earned her qualification after recording the fifth-best mark of the field with a jump of 6.32m (20-9) at the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round. She secured the women's outdoor long jump title and earned first-team honors with a wind-aided best of 6.65m (21-10) at the ACC Championships. In addition to her title, she set the women's long jump outdoor school record with a mark of 6.44m (21-1.5) at the Indiana Invitational this season.

Katie Martin concludes the second day of competition on Thursday with the women's 400-meter hurdles semifinals at 10:30 p.m. ET. Martin advanced to her first NCAA Outdoor Championships after recording a quarterfinals time of 57.93 seconds to clinch her place as a time qualifier. The time is the second-fastest Martin has posted in her collegiate career behind the school record 57.57 seconds clocked in a second-place and first-team honors finish at the ACC Championships.

We wish all our Cardinals athletes the best of luck !

paulie

Henderson 16th in shot in Oregon -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HENDERSON NAMED TO ALL-AMERICAN HONORS AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

With a throw of 15.93m (52-3) that was good for 16th. place in the NCAA Shot Put Championships, Emmonnie Henderson earned second place All-American honors Thursday night.

Her throw in the event was about four feet (or 2 meters) short of the personal best she tossed to win the ACC Championships. That 17.09m (56-1) effort would have got her seventh place yesterday...the top toss was 18.35m (60-2) by freshman Raven Saunders from Southern Illinois. ACC competitor Sarah Howard (UNC) finished 14th. with a 16.20m (53-1) throw. Henderson defeated Howard in the ACC Championships earlier this year. 

20.59 is the best recorded toss on record...achieved by Nadzeya Ostapchuk in 2011.

For Chanel Krause, a bit of disappointment in failing to clear the bar in any of her pole vaulting attempts. 

Henderson will take to the track again Saturday to compete in the finals of the discus toss. She's ranked 24th. of the 24 competitors...so winning this would truly be remarkable.

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As you might expect, the ESPN and ESPNU coverage of the women's championships Thursday revolved around the running events and field events simply got shoved aside. 

Our neighbors to the east (UK) had several runners qualify out of their heats to make the finals. UK had made significant strides in track and field. One has to hope the Cards can catch up here in the future. The dominance of LSU, Texas A&M, Clemson and Oregon over the years can be equated and compared to the upper echelon of UConn, Notre Dame, Stanford, Louisville and Maryland in women's college basketball. 

It's a nice achievement two have two Cardinal athletes qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships...but one  would hope that Dale Cowper, Louisville track and field head coach, can recruit a few "Shoni's, Asia's and Angel's" for the 'run, jump and throw' Cards in the future. 

The women's program has had decent throwers over the years. It's time to catch up in the sprints, hurdles and relay events. 

paulie
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