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Cards Earn Four NCAA Qualifying Marks, Set Eight School Records at SIU
Dec. 8, 2006
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The University of Louisville men's and women's track and field teams opened the indoor season in impressive fashion earning four NCAA Championships qualifying marks, winning four event titles and setting eight school records at Friday's Fast Start Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois University. Leading the way for the Cards at the unscored meet was two-time All-America performer Tone Belt who earned a pair of NCAA qualifying marks with first-place and school record performances in the high jump and long jump. Belt, a sophomore from Berkeley Springs, W.Va., won the high jump clearing an indoor personal best height of 7 feet, 1. 75 inches breaking his own previous school record of 7-01.50 set at last season's Indiana Open. In the long jump, Belt had a career best distance of 25-07.50 to break the previous UofL record of 24-11 set by teammate Andre Black at last season's Fast Start Invite. Black also had a record-setting day in Carbondale earning a first-place finish and an NCAA qualifying mark with a school record performance in the triple jump. The sophomore from Mobile, Ala., won the event with a personal best jump of 51-02.25 breaking the previous school record of 50-06.50 set by Ray Buchanan in 1991. The Cards' fourth NCAA qualifying performance was turned in by senior Arthur Turland with a first-place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 65-08.25. The Cardinal men had two more school record performances on Friday led by sophomore Steven Hnat who finished second overall in the shot put with a mark of 55-11.25 breaking the previous UofL record of 55-00.50 set by James Dennis in 1998. The final school record came from junior Robbie Moore who finished third overall in the pole vault with a cleared height of 14-11.00 breaking his own previous record of 14-09.00 set at last year's BIG EAST Indoor Championships. Leading the way for the Cardinal women's team was junior ZeNai Savage with a school record mark of 49-10.00 in the shot put to finish second overall in the event. The native of Indianapolis, Ind., broke the previous school record of 49-09.75 set by Shola Kadiri in 2002. Another record-setting performance was turned in by sophomore Seidre Forde, who finished second overall in the triple jump with a mark of 40-11.00. The native of Green's St. George, Barbados, broke the previous UofL record of 39-06.50 set by Ify Akubeze in 2004. The final school record showing of the day for the Cards came from freshman Theresa Lewis who matched the UofL record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.66 seconds to finish second overall in the race. The time matches the school record set by Cardinal senior Aajah Showell at last year's Meyo Invitational. "It was a great day for us and a great way to start the indoor season," said UofL head coach Ron Mann. "We accomplished exactly what we wanted to today and this should really help us when we return to competition after the holiday break." Up next, the Cardinal men's and women's track and field teams will have a break for the holidays before returning to action at the Kentucky Invitational on Jan. 12-13 in Lexington, Ky. SIU Fast Start Invitational - Carbondale, Ill.
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