LOUISVILLE, Ky. * With more than 65 individual qualifying marks, the nationally ranked University of Louisville track and field team will travel to Akron, Ohio, for Saturday and Sunday*s BIG EAST Indoor Championships at the University of Akron*s Athletics Field House.
UofL is expected to have 19 men*s athletes and 19 women*s athletes traveling to Akron for the meet, which is scheduled to begin with the multi events at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday and continue Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
*The BIG EAST Conference is very deep in track and field and there are several schools in this league that are historically strong programs,* said UofL head coach Ron Mann. *On the men*s side, you*ve got three teams ranked in the Top 20 in the nation this week (UofL, Pittsburgh and Providence), and that doesn*t even include Notre Dame, which I think is probably the favorite to win both the men*s and women*s titles this weekend because they have so many athletes and so much depth.*
In 2006, UofL*s first season in the BIG EAST Conference, the Cardinal men finished fourth at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships, while the women were 10th overall. Connecticut won the men*s title last year, while Notre Dame won its second BIG EAST indoor title.
*We*re still such a newcomer to this conference, and a neophyte in that regard, that we feel very fortunate to be among the top teams in this great conference right now,* Mann said. *We certainly hope to improve on last year*s finishes and with any meet like this, you need to have great athletes, good health and a little bit of luck. We believe we have great athletes and we*re pretty healthy right now, so now we need a little luck.*
The Cardinal men*s team, ranked ninth in this week*s Trackwire Top 25 and 14th in the latest USTFCCCA Top 20 poll, enters this weekend*s conference meet with the top ranked athlete in six events. Sophomore Tone Belt leads the way for the men as the top ranked athlete in the long jump (25 feet, 10.75 inches/7.89m) and high jump (7-03.00/2.21m) competitions, while sophomore Andre Black leads the way in the triple jump (52-03.75/15.94m). Senior Arthur Turland is No. 1 in the weight throw (69-00.00/21.03m), with junior Wesley Korir leading the 5,000m (13:52.63) and while freshman Shaquan Brown on top in the 500m (1:02.60).
On the women*s side, UofL senior Emily Turland and sophomore Seidre Forde each lead the conference event performance lists. Turland is No. 1 in the weight throw at 63-04.00/19.30m), while Forde leads the way in the triple jump (40-11.000/12.47m).
Through six events in 2007, the Cards have set 18 school records (13 men, five women) and earned nine NCAA qualifying marks (seven men, two women), led by Belt and Black, ranked No. 1 in this week*s Trackwire Dandy Dozen in the long jump and triple jump respectively. And senior Arthur Turland also has the sixth best mark in the nation in the weight throw in 2007.
Following this weekend*s BIG EAST meet, UofL is expected to have several athletes traveling to Boston, Mass., on Feb. 24-25 for the USA Indoor Championships, a non-collegiate meet which annually features many of the nation*s top professional and collegiate track and field athletes.
