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The University of Louisville traveled to Akron, Ohio for the Big East Indoor Championships. The men’s team went into the tournament ranked ninth in the Trackwire Top 25, the highest ranking in school history.
SophomoreTone Belt had the longest recorded jump of the year going into the tournament and was ranked as the best collegiate long jumper in the country.
He posted a jump of 26 feet one inch to win the Big East championship, shattering a 19-year-old record and going undefeated in the long jump in 2007.
“I had a lot of adrenaline in the long jump tonight, and I really like when the jumping areas are so close to the crowd like they are here in Akron,” said Belt. “It’s nice to get to 26 feet because I wasn’t sure if could get there indoors or not. Now, I have to set a higher standard for myself and I’m looking for mid-26 (feet) indoors and 27 feet outdoors.”
The Cardinals had the top three long jumpers of the tournament. Along with Belt, Black posted a jump of 25 feet 2.75 inches, coming in at second place, and Rudon Bastian jumped into third place with 24 feet 11 inches.
All three jumpers are sophomores.
While the sophomores took the long jump, a husband and wife duo excelled in throwing. Arthur Turland posted a mark of 68 feet 3.25 inches in the men’s 35-pound weight throw to take the championship.
His wife, Emily Turland, had a throw of 66-00.50 feet in the women’s division. The women throw a 20 pound weight.
“This was a big performance by Emily Turland and it should give her a chance to be the first Louisville women’s athlete to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships,” said Louisville throws coach Dale Cowper. “Arthur did a nice job of backing up last week’s 69-foot throw, and I feel like he’s ready to throw 72 feet at any time.”
On the track, junior Wesley Korir dominated. Korir won the men’s 5,000 meter run by more than seven seconds over the next closest competition. Korir posted a time of 14 minutes and 6.67 seconds.
“It was a pretty easy race for me and I’m happy with the way that I ran,” said Korir. “My plan was to wait until about 3,000 meters to make a move, but the pace was so slow that I felt like I needed to make the move a little earlier. I felt really strong at the end and I could’ve gone a lot faster if I had been pushed.”
The Cardinals had two other athletes with medal-winning performances. ZeNai Savage had a throw of 60 feet 6.5 inches in the women’s weight throw.
It was a personal best for her and good enough for second place behind teammate Emily Turland. Freshmen Rachel Gehret placed third in the women’s long jump with a jump of 18 feet 9.75 inches.
Overall on day one Louisville had four individual winners and 8 medal winners.
“What I’m most pleased about is the way our kids are competing. We have so much enthusiasm and we’ve displayed a strong will to win and a commitment to do whatever it takes for this team to succeed,” said head coach Rick Mann.
