By Pk Bartley & Price Hanna
The University of Louisville’s men and women track and field teams hosted the Cardinal Challenge track meet this past weekend. Among the visiting teams were C-USA members Cincinnati and Marquette and in-state rivals Eastern and Western Kentucky. The women’s team was able to win the event with a score of 190. University of Cincinnati was second with 166 points, Marquette placed third with 153 points, fourth was Eastern Kentucky with 97, and Western Kentucky was fifth with 51 points.
U of L’s men’s team fought hard, but was unable to win the meet, placing third with 90 points. The separation between first and second place was incredibly close, coming down to a single point. Miami of Ohio came in first with 144, Cincinnati came in second with 143, fourth was Eastern Kentucky with 83 points, fifth went to Western Kentucky with 68 points, and last was Marquette with 57 points.
On the throwing field, located near the chemistry building, the men’s and women’s teams showed consistent performances. The women’s track and field team had four top-three finishes in three events, while the men’s track and field team placed four top-four finishes in three events. Overall, the men’s team added 30 points for the Cards, and the women’s team gave 32 points.
U of L’s women’s team was helped by some great performances from the young freshman talent. One of those was Kelley Bowman in the high jump, placing first at 1.68m, 5-6. Lesley Drury came in second with a jump of 1.63m, 5-4.25.
“I was trying to go out there and have the best jump possible,” said Bowman, “and I did that.”
Another freshman that did well for the women’s team was Jacey Hughes in the pole vault, with a score of 11-6, 3.51m. “I was really nervous because this is my first meet here at home,” Hughes said. “I had a lot of family and friends in the stands, and I wanted to do well.”
U of L women’s head coach Warren Bye was impressed by the freshmen’s performance. “For us to be successful, we have to have our freshmen step up, and they did so today.”
However, the freshmen were not the only ones who stepped up for the women’s team.
Senior Alicia Cavender set a new personal record in the 1,500 meter run at 4:31.35.
She finished with a time of 4:31.35. “That was my goal this year, to come out and set some new personal records,” Cavender said. “All the practices and workouts are really starting to pay off.” Bye said of Cavender, “She is one of our leaders of this year’s team. She’s working very hard for us.”
In the women’s shot put , senior Shola Kadiri topped the field with a mark of 13.75m, 45-1.5 for the Cardinals. She went on to place 8th in the discus throw, and third in the hammer throw. Kadiri was Louisville’s top performer in each event that she participated in.
Senior Trish Young placed U of L first in the women’s javelin. Her mark of 44.13m, 144-9 was ten meters more than the second place finisher.
The men’s team had some good performances as well. In the men’s 400 dash, U of L’s J.R. McCleney came in second with a time of 49.02 seconds. “I had a great run today, but it wasn’t enough to get the win,” McCleney stated.
“Overall, we’ve put in some good performances, and we’re working hard to become a better team.” In the men’s shot-put, U of L’s John Blackwell came in second with a score of 14.44m 47’04.50″. In the pole vault, Billy Hollan came in third with 14’06.00″ 4.42m.
Sophomore John Wawrysh had a good afternoon for the men’s team, finishing third in discus Throw, fourth in shot put, and third in hammer throw. Just like Kadiri for the women’s team, Wawrysh was the top performer for each event that he participated in for U of L.
“I’m pretty happy with the team’s performance overall,” said men’s head coach Gene Weis. “We really got hurt in some events because we didn’t have anyone competing in them, due to our lack of depth.”
Overall, the Cardinals proved that they were up to meeting the challenge.
