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Louisville Track & Field Qualifies Six Athletes for NCAA Indoor Championships
March 10, 2010 LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville track and field team will have six athletes competing in eight events in Fayetteville, Ark. for the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships on March 12-13 at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of The University of Arkansas. The official list of qualifiers was announced on Monday night by the NCAA. "We have a great opportunity here to continue to build this program and the team is extremely excited about it", said U of L head coach Ron Mann. The Cardinal women have sent a school record total of three athletes for three straight years now to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships led by junior thrower D'Ana McCarty, who is the national leader and the reigning national champion in the weight throw. Also representing the Louisville women will be senior Saravia Richardson in the 60m dash and senior Jere' Summers in both the weight throw and the shot put. Representing the Louisville men will be senior Rudon Bastian in the long jump, the 2007 indoor long jump champion and five-time All-American Tone Belt in both the long jump and high jump and 2007 indoor triple jump champion and three-time All-American Andre Black in the triple jump. McCarty, from Indianapolis, Ind., set a new school record and is ranked number one in the NCAA in the weight throw. Her mark of 74'0.25/22.56m that won her the BIG EAST Championship is the top mark in the NCAA. Richardson, from Moreno Valley, Calif., shattered her own school record of 7.43 in the 60m dash by running a 7.26 at the Virginia Tech Last Chance Meet to move into 6th in the national rankings entering this weekend. Summers, from Oakland, Calif., is ranked second in the weight throw behind McCarty with a toss of 73`4/22.35m. She is also ranked seventh in the shot put with a mark of 55'9.25/17.00m Bastian, from Nassau, Bahamas, is entering the men's long jump ranked in a tie for seventh with his BIG EAST Championship distance of 25'10/7.87m. Belt, from Berkeley Springs, W.V., is ranked 14th in the long jump with a mark of 25'6.25/7.78m. Belt will also compete in the high jump in which he is ranked 18th clearing a height of 7'2.25/2.19m. Both marks came at Notre Dame this season during the Notre Dame Invitational and the Meyo Invitational. Black, from Mobile, Ala., enters the men's triple jump ranked 14th overall in the nation with a leap of 52'7.25/16.03m from January at the Kentucky Invitational. The Cardinal women moved up to No. 10 in the USTFCCCA rankings entering this weekend's championships. McCarty and Summers will lead off for the Cardinals at noon CT on Friday with the women's weight throw. Richardson will close out the 2010 NCAA Championship meet with the 60-meter dash finals scheduled for 7:25 p.m. With the indoor season winding down, this will be the last meet for some of the seniors. This will be Mann's first full graduating senior class since he arrived at the University of Louisville six years ago. "This is a great tribute to them and shows where the program has come in a very short period of time", said Mann. This has been an extremely decorated class with two national champions and numerous All-America awards. There are nine women and four men in this year's senior class. Kat Alcorn is from Hebron, Ky. She is a middle distance specialist. She is the school-record holder in the 800-meters (2:10.22) and the 1,000-meters (2:51.34). Lindsey Cook is from Borden, Ind. She competes in the throwing events. She has a personal best in the weight throw of 59'11.75 (18.28m). Kortni Dukes is a native of Ryland Heights, Ky. She is a distance specialist whose personal record in the 3,000-meters is 10:05.61. Gehret is a jumping specialist who hails from Altoona, Pa. She holds the school record in the indoor high jump (5'11.50/1.82m) and the 4x400m relay (3:46.09). She was the BIG EAST Indoor Champion this year in the long jump and the triple jump, while finishing second in the high jump. She was named BIG EAST Female Field Athlete of the Meet for her performance in New York City this year. Her personal best in the long jump is 20'1.5 (6.13m) and the triple jump is 40'6.75 (12.36m). Theresa Lewis is a hurdler/sprinter from Randallstown, Md. She holds the school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.41. Her personal best in the 55-meter dash is 7.31, her personal best in the 60-meter dash is 7.71 and her personal best in the 200-meters is 25.75. Chiamaka (Amaka) Omenyinma is a jumps/sprints specialist from Waggener HS in Louisville, Ky. She is the school record holder in the long jump with a leap of 20'5.25 (6.23m). Her best in the triple jump is 40'3.5 (12.28m) and the 60-meter dash is 7.91. Jenean Pressley is a jumper from Lexington, Ky. Her personal bests include: 5'6 (1.68m) in the high jump; 18'2.25 (5.54m) in the long jump and 36'9.75 (11.22m) in the triple jump. Richardson is a sprinter from Moreno Valley, Calif. Her school record and personal best time of 7.26 in the 60-meter dash is currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA heading into this weekend's championships. Her personal best in the 200-meters is 24.19. Her personal best in the 4x400m relay is 4:01.18. Summers is a throwing specialist from Oakland, Calif. Her personal bests include 73'4 (22.35m) in the weight throw and her school record 55'9.25 (17.00m) in the shot put. Bastian is a senior from Nassau, Bahamas. He is a jumping specialist. His personal best in the long jump is 25'10 (7.87m). His personal best in the triple jump is 49'7.75 (15.13m). Belt is a jumping specialist from Berkeley Springs, W.V. Tone is one of the most decorated track and field athletes in the history of Louisville's program. He was the 2007 NCAA Champion in the indoor long jump and is a five-time All-American. He was the first ever U of L athlete to earn a World Championship medal, which he won at the World Junior Championships in Beijing, China during the 2005-06 season. He holds the school record in both the long jump (26'1.75/7.97m) and the high jump (7'3/2.21m). His personal best in the triple jump is 50'8.75 (15.46m). Black is also a jumping specialist and a decorated member of the Cardinal track and field team. Black is from Mobile, Ala. He was the Cards second ever NCAA Champion by winning the triple jump in the 2007 season. Black is a three-time All-American. He is the school record holder in the triple jump with a personal best of 53'5.50 (16.29m). His personal best in the long jump is 25'2.75 (7.69m) while the high jump is 6'3.50 (1.92m). Black is also a member of the school record 4x400m relay team (3:15.78). Cory Thorne is a distance specialist from Portsmouth, N.H. He is a three-time All-American. His personal bests include: 1:53.66 in the 800m; 4:06.13 in the mile; 8:00.98 in the 3,000m; and 9:45.11 in the distance medley relay. Thorne has been an academic standout also winning many awards. He did not compete much during this year's indoor season due to injury. These seniors will be sorely missed. They are great models of how Coach Mann expects nothing but hard work and 100 percent commitment from his athletes. They will now look to continue their success into the game of life.
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