Louisville Track and Field Announces 2011-12 Slate

The Cardinals’ schedule is highlighted by outdoor home meets in April and May.

 

November 16, 2011

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville head coach Ron Mann, entering his eighth season at the helm of the track and field program, released on Wednesday the Cardinals’ indoor and outdoor schedules, highlighted by three home meets.

 

“We’re getting a little bit of a later start this year in that we don’t have a December meet,” Mann said. “What we’re trying to do is get a lot of time and repetitions on a track that’s similar to the one at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships (200-meter banked track). We’re trying to replicate that with the Virginia Tech and Indiana meets.

 

“The track at the national championships (Boise State) is very similar to the one in the Armory (BIG EAST Indoor Championships), Indiana and Virginia Tech. Those similarities played a critical role in the locations that we go to during the season.”

 

The Cardinals are coming off another banner year in which the women’s team won the indoor and outdoor BIG EAST team titles and former standout Matt Hughes captured his second-straight outdoor national title in the 3,000m steeplechase. The Cardinal women became just the second team in BIG EAST Conference history to win four-straight outdoor titles and the first to capture indoor and outdoor league titles in the same year since Pittsburgh managed to achieve the feat in 2005.

 

The Cardinals open the indoor year with a one-day trip on Jan. 7 to the Indiana Open in Bloomington, Ind., and follow that with the the two-day Kentucky Invitational from Jan. 14-15 in Lexington. Louisville returns to Bloomington on back-to-back weekends, first for the Gladstein Invitational Jan. 20-21, and then again a week later from Jan. 27-28 for the Indiana Relays.

 

From Feb. 3-4, Louisville will split squads, with part of the team competing in South Bend, Ind., at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational, and the other portion of the team in Blacksburg, Va., at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet.

 

Following a two-week break, the Cardinals return to action in New York, N.Y., for the BIG EAST Indoor Championships from Feb. 18-19. Last year, five different individuals captured titles at the meet, including Khadija Abdullah, who captured her first career indoor title with a win in the shot put.

 

In an attempt to collect additional NCAA qualifying marks, Louisville is slated to travel to the Virginia Tech Final Qualifier on March 3 before making the trek to the NCAA Indoor Championships from March 9-10. Boise State University will serve as the host for the two-day event, which takes place Nampa, Idaho, at Jacksons Indoor Track at the Idaho Sports Center.

 

In a quick turnaround, Louisville commences its outdoor season just six days later on March 16 at the Bulls Invitational in Tampa, Fla. The Cardinals remain in the south to complete the month of March, competing at the Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa, Ala., from March 23-24, and then heading to Oxford, Miss., on March 31 for the Ole Miss Invitational.

 

“Alabama Relays is a meet that we have historically gone to,” Mann added. “We have added a new meet in the Ole Miss Invitational, which gives us an opportunity to go to the south more.

 

“Our outdoor home meets should continue to be exciting as they have been in the past. The Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational is continuing to connect the past, the present and the future. We’ll do some things to try to make that an opportunity for some of our alums to get back to Louisville.”

 

After a two-week idle period, Louisville plays host to pair of home meets in April. On the 14th, Louisville and Kentucky (Commonwealth) team up against Notre Dame and Indiana (Hoosierland) for the third annual Border Battle at Cardinal Park. Team Commonwealth won the first dual battle in 2010, but Hoosierland rebounded to win last year’s meet. The second home meet – the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational – is set to take place on April 22. Thirteen Cardinals collected individual titles at last season’s meet.

 

Louisville then splits squads for the first time during the outdoor season, as half of the team will travel to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, from April 26-28. The other portion of the team will compete at the prestigious Penn Relays during that time in Philadelphia, Pa.

 

From May 4-6, Louisville will be participating in the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships in Tampa, Fla. The Louisville women will attempt make history by earning their fifth-straight, a feat yet to be accomplished in conference history. The University of South Florida will serve as the host for the three-day event.

 

A week later, Louisville plays host to the Cardinal Twilight – a last-chance meet – on May 11 at Cardinal Park. Last year’s participants included national-level talent in athletes such as Mary Wineberg and Hyleas Fountain of USA Track and Field and members of the Venezuelan National Team.

 

For the second-straight year, the NCAA will utilize preliminary rounds (East and West) to determine who may advance to the national championships. Louisville student-athletes ranked in the top 40 of their respective events in the East Region are slated to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, which will be held from May 24-26, in Jacksonville, Fla., on the campus of the University of North Florida.

 

The NCAA Outdoor Championships return to Des Moines, Iowa, at Drake Stadium for the second-straight year. The four-day event, hosted by Drake University, takes place from June 6-9.

 

“This year will be particularly great in that we also have the Olympic Trials to look forward to and the Olympic Games in London,” Mann said.

 

For all of the latest information on Louisville cross country and track and field, log on to UofLsports.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/louisvilletrack.

 

2012 INDOOR SCHEDULE

Jan. 7               Sat.                  Indiana Open                                                      Bloomington, Ind.

Jan. 14-15         Fri.-Sat.            Kentucky Invitational                                           Lexington, Ky.

Jan. 20-21         Fri.-Sat.            Gladstein Invitational                                           Bloomington, Ind.

Jan. 27-28         Fri.-Sat.            Indiana Relays                                                    Bloomington, Ind.

Feb. 3-4            Fri.-Sat.            Notre Dame Meyo Invitational                              South Bend, Ind.

Feb. 3-4            Fri.-Sat.            VT Elite Meet                                                      Blacksburg, Va.

Feb. 18-19        Sat.-Sun.          BIG EAST Indoor Championships                        New York, N.Y.

March 3            Sat.                  VT Final Qualifier                                                Blacksburg, Va.

March 9-10        Fri.-Sat.            NCAA Indoor Championships                              Nampa, Idaho

 

2012 OUTDOOR SCHEDULE

March 16           Fri.                   Bulls Invitational                                                  Tampa, Fla.

March 23-24      Fri.-Sat.            Alabama Relays                                                  Tuscaloosa, Ala.

March 31           Sat.                  Ole Miss Invitational                                            Oxford, Miss.

April 14             Sat.                  BORDER BATTLE                                               LOUISVILLE

April 20             Fri.                   LENNY LYLES/CLARK WOOD INVITATIONAL      LOUISVILLE

April 26-28        Thurs.-Sat.        Penn Relays                                                       Philadelphia, Pa.

April 26-28        Thurs.-Sat.        Drake Relays                                                      Des Moines, Iowa

May 4-6            Fri.-Sun.            BIG EAST Outdoor Championships                     Tampa, Fla.

May 11             Fri.                   CARDINAL TWILIGHT                                          LOUISVILLE

May 24-26         Thurs.-Sat.        NCAA East Preliminary Rounds                           Jacksonville, Fla.

June 6-9            Wed.-Sat.         NCAA Outdoor Championships                           Des Moines, Iowa

 

-ig-

 

For More Information, Contact:

Ira Green, (502) 852-4857

Ira.Green@louisville.edu