By Whitney Spencer
The University of Louisville track & field team took home two event titles, set three school records and gained seven NCAA regional qualifying marks this weekend at the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas.
Leading the way for the Cardinal women was junior Seidre Forde with her victory in section B of the triple jump with a school record and NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying leap of 43 feet, 9.75 inches. Forde’s leap was the best outdoor leap in the nation upon entering this weekend’s competition. The leap destroyed Forde’s previous outdoor school record of 42 feet, 7.5 inches set in her win at last year’s Big East Championship. Forde also set a Barbados national record with this leap.
Joining Forde with an event title and a regional qualifying mark was sophomore Rachel Gehret in section B of the high jump with an individual best height of 5 feet, 8.75 inches. The jump earns Gehret her first career berth at the NCAA Mideast Regional. The last regional bid of the day for the women belonged to freshman Chinwe Okoro with a fifth-place finish in the shot put after a personal best throw of 47 feet, 4.5 inches.
“That was a good performance. Certainly, not exactly what we hoped for but you take the good with the bad,” Ron Mann, U of L head coach, said.
For the U of L men, highlights came by way of junior Andre Black in the long jump. Black returned to competition for the Cards for the first time since last June’s NCAA Outdoor Championship by earning an NCAA Mideast Regional bid, finishing second overall in the long jump with a jump of 25 feet, 3.25 inches.
Black redshirted during the 2008 indoor season in preparation for the outdoor season and for his attempt to earn a spot on Team USA for the 2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing.
Following Black’s performance on Friday, he faced a slight complication coming into Saturday final showing.
“We had to pull Andre Black out of the triple jump, which is one of his specialties because yesterday he qualified for the national championship in the long jump, but in doing so he had a slight hamstring injury and we wanted to be cautious so we did not put him in the triple jump today,” Mann said.
Junior Rudon Bastian added another regional bid in the long jump with a fourth place leap of 24 feet, 7.75 inches.
“[The first day of competition] went very well,” Mann said.
On Saturday, sophomore Jere’ Summers set the pace with a school record in the shot put with the second-best throw in the nation this season at 55 feet. Summers also set a school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 199 feet, one inch, finishing second Senior ZeNai Savage gained an individual best throw of 50 feet, 5inches in the shot to finish seventh overall.
“Today’s performances were good, particularly Jere’. She had a very good day in the shot put and we felt very good about that as well as ZeNai,” Mann said.
Up next, the Cards will operate at the Sea Ray Relays on April 9 – 12 in Knoxville, Tenn.
“The most important thing we can do is stay healthy and build toward conference champions,” Mann said.
