• ROSTER
• |
• SCHEDULE
• |
• STATS
• |
• NEWS
• |
• ARCHIVES
• |
• PHOTOS

June 25, 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville track and field program will five athletes pursuing the Olympic dream over the next two weeks, including the trio of Tone Belt, Andre Black and Jere' Summers, who will be in Eugene, Ore., for the upcoming US Olympic Team Trials.

Along with the trio of American born athletes, the Cards will have two additional athletes pursuing Olympic berths as Rudon Bastian (Barbados) and Tarah McKay (Canada) compete for team spots in the their native countries, while head coach Ron Mann will be in Eugene for the US Olympic Team Trials as he fulfills his duties as the men's middle distance coach for Team USA at this summer's Olympic Games.

"The Olympic stage is as big as it gets in the world of track and field, so to have a number of athletes pursuing that dream is exciting for our program at the University of Louisville," Mann said. "It's also been a life-long dream for me, so I'm looking forward to my duties with Team USA at the Olympic Trials and preparing for the trip to Beijing in August."

The top three finishers in each event at the US Olympic Team Trials will represent Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics on Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China. The US Olympic Team Trials will begin for the Cards on Friday at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon with the qualifying rounds for the men's long jump and women's discus.

Belt (Berkeley Springs, W.Va.), who sat out the 2008 collegiate season while recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered last June, will compete in the men's long jump qualifying on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PT, while the long jump final is set for Sunday at 3:15 p.m. PT. Belt is the 2007 NCAA indoor long jump champion and this will be his first attempt at qualifying for the Olympic Games.

The US Team Trials will conclude for the Cards a week later with the qualifying round and final of the men's triple jump. Black (Mobile, Ala.) will compete in the qualifying round on Friday, July 4 at 7:10 p.m. PT, while the final is set for Sunday, July 6 at 4 p.m. PT. Black is the 2007 NCAA indoor triple jump champion and a runner-up in the event at the last two NCAA Outdoor Championships, and he will be making first career attempt at qualifying for the Olympic Games.

Bastian, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, is set to compete for a spot on his nation's Olympic team in the long jump on Friday in Nassau, while McKay, from St. Clements, Ont., will compete in the 1,500m for her native Canada on July 4-5 in Windsor, Ont. Both athletes will be making their first ever attempts at Olympic bids.

Following the Olympic qualifying events over the next two weeks, Louisville throwers D'Ana McCarty and Chinwe Okoro will represent Team USA at the IAAF World Junior Championships on July 8-13 in Poland. McCarty will compete in the women's hammer, while Okoro will compete in the women's shot put.