By Josh Knecht

March is the time for a tournament that crowns a national champion after the madness settles. It is a time for champions to prove themselves on a national stage, and reap the benefits of their hard winter training, and indoor track and field is no stranger to this.
On March 13, in College Station, Texas, University of Louisville sophomore D’Ana McCarty won the 2009 Women’s NCAA Weight Throw Championship. McCarty’s win was the first women’s title in school history for track and field. Her win gave the Cards their third Track & Field National Title in the last three years.
“It was exciting,” McCarty said. “My main goal was to make it out of the Big East and make regionals, and for me to be able to go on and compete in nationals was more than I thought. My goal for this year was only to hit 70 feet and I was able to do better than that!”
McCarty took the title by throwing a school and facility record mark of 72-05.75 (22.09m), capping her personal best by a little over a foot. 
“It’s a great feeling not only for the program, but also for the whole department,” Dale Cowper, assistant track and field coach, said. “For D’Ana to win our first event title on the women’s side, that’s an outstanding accomplishment. As far as the season goes, it sets up some of our men and women to understand where they can climb to and raise that bar a little bit higher, and help the whole program progress.”
Cowper is impressed with McCarty’s work ethic and progress that she has made.
“D’Ana’s done a great job and she’s grown a lot in the last year and a half since she came in as a freshman, and our objective is to continue growing as an athlete and a student here at U of L,” he said.
Despite McCarty’s NCAA title, track & field hasn’t always been her only focus. McCarty played basketball during high school until her junior year, when her father encouraged her to try track and field. That year she found great success in the weight throwing events.
“I was kind tired of the pressure [of playing basketball year round] so I decided to go out and try [track],” McCarty said. “I then won the JV meet and thought maybe I am good at this!”
McCarty continued her work in track and field, finding the individual side of the sport intriguing.
 “Its my own determination, like when your team gets down a little bit in basketball, its kind of like you can’t do anything, you can’t change it,” McCarty said. “In track its yourself, its only you, you basically push yourself, and if someone else is down or is not doing good, it doesn’t affect you as much, and your outcome isn’t determined on someone else.”
McCarty, an Indiana native, entertained the thought of a few other universities before deciding on U of L. McCarty finally settled on her top choice after seeing the atmosphere of athletics.
“When I came [to U of L], on my visit, it was such a team atmosphere and I didn’t really have that in high school for basketball or track,” McCarty said. “It was like a big family where all different groups got along and the coaches were friendly, and sarcastic. It was a perfect fit.”
McCarty is not only an NCAA champion, but she was also named a 2009 All-American for her accomplishments on and off the field. McCarty said school was the priority, but she has never found trouble balancing the two.
“I am a night person, so it really helps since our practices are during the day,” she said jokingly.
After winning an NCAA championship, McCarty is set on moving from the indoor season to the outdoor season. Outdoor features different events and equipment.
“[In] outdoors the hammer is a little slower than the weight, so that’s going to be something interesting,” McCarty said. “I’m trying to get back into that, and then the pressures from me winning the weight throw are going to make everyone think that I’m going to win the hammer.”
Overall Cowper, McCarty, and the rest of the Cardinals are confident this outdoor season will be a success, and a chance at the outdoor track and field NCAA title.