Women's Track and Field Jumps to No. 16 in Rankings - Louisville Cardinals Official Athletic Site

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Women's Track and Field Jumps to No. 16 in Rankings
The Cardinal women earned their highest outdoor ranking in program history.

Khadija Abdullah ranks No. 10 in the discus and No. 12 in the shot put.

April 24, 2012

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's National Team Computer Rankings, the University of Louisville women's track and field team made a monumental leap to No. 16, its highest rating in program history, it was announced Tuesday.

The Cardinals' women's squad's previous best was a No. 20 national ranking, which the team achieved in the USTFCCCA's 2010 outdoor preseason poll on March 31, 2010.

Louisville, the lone BIG EAST school in the top 25, jumped 11 spots in the poll after a strong overall performance this past weekend at its home meet, the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational. Of the 11 performances that rank in the top 50 nationally, seven of those marks were posted in that meet.

Most notably, Chinwe Okoro preserved her No. 4 ranking in the discus, while improving to ninth in the shot put with a school-record throw. Khadija Abdullah and Amashi Kendall also improved their standings in the shot put event, checking in at Nos. 12 and 18, respectively. Abdullah holds the No. 10 ranking in the discus, while Kendall pushed into the top 50 in the hammer throw, taking No. 49 this past week. In the jumping events, Michelle Theophille registered a career-best mark in the high jump to take over the No. 15 spot in the event, while Charachesicia Lockhart moved into 18th in the long jump. Lockhart posted a top-50 mark two weeks ago in the triple jump and is currently No. 44.

Earlier in the year, Holly Knight broke the school record in the 10,000m and has held a top-10 mark in the event since the first weekend in April. Teammate Jenna Wargo broke the javelin school record that same weekend and is listed with the sixth-best throw nationally.

The current poll only accounts for marks from the current season for a team's rankings (sans combined events).

The Cardinals return to action this weekend with the Drake Relays (April 26-28) and the third annual Bellarmine Classic (April 28).

For all of the latest information on Louisville cross country and track and field, log on to UofLsports.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/louisvilletrack.