By Jesse Welte
The Cardinals are on the right track. The University of Louisville’s track and field team opened their indoor season at the Fast Start Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois University on Dec. 8. The men’s and women’s teams set a combined eight school records en route to winning four events and earning four NCAA qualifying marks.
The team already has an excellent framework with which to start, coming off the most successful outdoor season in school history. “We’ll reconvene for practice in early January to prepare for an extremely aggressive indoor schedule,” said head coach Ron Mann.
The men’s team was led by two-time All-American Tone Belt. The sophomore who hails from Berkeley Springs, W. Va. collected two NCAA qualifying marks by finishing first in both the long jump and high jump. Belt set school records in both events, clearing seven feet, one-and-three-quarters inches in the high jump, breaking his own previous school record set at last season’s Indiana Open. In the long jump, Belt launched himself a record 25 feet, seven-and-a-half inches.
Sophomore Andre Black also earned a qualifying mark by setting a new school record in the triple jump to win the event. Black won the event by jumping a personal best 51 feet and two-and-one-fourth inches.
The final qualifying mark was earned by senior Arthur Turland with a first-place finish in the weight throw.
Sophomore Steven Hnat and junior Robbie Moore also set records in the shotput and pole vault respectively, finishing second and third.
On the women’s side, junior ZeNai Savage led the way, setting a school record in the shotput of 49 feet, ten inches, earning her a second-place overall finish in the event.
Two other Cardinals broke school records. Sophomore Seidre Forde finished second overall in the triple jump, while freshman Theresa Lewis matched the U of L record in the 60-meter hurdles earning a second-place finish in the race.
“We accomplished exactly what we wanted to today and this should really help us when we return to competition after the holiday break,” Mann said.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams will resume their indoor season at the Kentucky Invitational on Jan. 12-13 in Lexington.
