Men Finish Seventh at NCAA Championships Led by Black's Runner-Up Finish in Triple Jump
June 9, 2007 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sophomore Andre Black used a clutch leap on his final attempt to earn a runner-up finish in Saturday's triple jump and lead the University of Louisville men's track and field team to a school record seventh-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships in front of 10,165 fans at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex and complete the greatest track and field season in school history. The seventh-place team finish is the best ever for University of Louisville track and field and is the latest in a season of best-ever finishes for the Cards at the NCAA Championships. In the fall, the Cardinal men's cross country team finished 15th at the NCAA Championships and in March, the Cardinal men won a pair individual national titles and earned a 10th-place finish overall. In May, the Cards earned their first ever conference title with a victory at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships and two weeks ago, the Cards finished third overall at the NCAA Mideast Regional, the program's best ever finish at that meet. "I'm proud of the team because there's always some ups and downs at a meet like this, but it's a team effort," said Cards' head coach Ron Mann. "With 15th in cross country, 10th indoors and seventh outdoors, you can take that into next season and really build upon it. I can say this exceeds my expectations for where I thought we'd be three years into this. It's just awesome and we're very appreciative of the support from (U of L Director of Athletics) Tom Jurich and (U of L Associate AD/SWA) Julie Hermann and the entire support staff we have in place at the University of Louisville." Overall, the Cards scored 22 points, the most ever for U of L at an NCAA event, to finish tied for seventh-place with reigning NCAA indoor champion Wisconsin. No. 1 ranked Florida State repeated as men's national champion with 54 points, while No. 2 ranked LSU was second with 48 points. Auburn was third with 34 points, followed by Tennessee in fourth with 31 points, USC in fifth with 27 points and North Carolina in sixth with 26 points. UCLA finished ninth with 21 points and Oregon closed the top 10 with 20 points. The Cards' previous best finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships was 30th last season. "We were hoping to be in the top 10 and we thought it would take 30 points to do that, but it didn't take quite that many," said Mann. "We had some great performances across the board this week, and I'm really proud of Andre, particularly on his last jump when the pressure was on. He was very consistent all day long and had a great attempt on his fifth jump, which set him up for that sixth great and he did a great job. The Cards, ranked sixth in the nation entering the weekend, moved into the top 10 on Black's final attempt in Saturday's triple jump after the reigning indoor triple jump champion entered the sixth and final round of jumps in eighth place overall. On his final leap, Black had a mark of 53 feet, the third best leap of his career outdoors, to earn All-America honors for the second time in his career and clinch a top 10 finish for the team. "The last jump was a crucial jump and throughout the season, Coach Jacoby and I work on clutch performances just like that," Black said. "I thank God for the wonderful blessings that he's given to me and my team this week. As Coach Ron Mann says, we're a force to be reckoned with and we want to bring that fourth season to the city of Louisville." Black entered the event as the No. 5 seed overall and finished fifth in Friday's triple jump prelims. On Saturday, the native of Mobile, Ala., moved into the lead on the second of six leaps with a mark of 52-02.50. After similar marks on his third and fourth attempts, Black had a big leap on his fifth attempt, but his toe was over the foul line setting up the climactic finish in the final round. "When I saw my mark on the final jump, my first reaction was `Oh, I didn't win,' but it's all a blessing because I had a chance to come here and compete at the NCAA Championships," Black said. "For me, this was a great comeback from last year's outdoor championships when I didn't make the finals, and hopefully, I can continue to improve and mature as a jumper and continue to lead our team." Overall, the Cardinal men closed the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships with three All-American performances, including second-place finishes for Black and Tone Belt (long jump) and a third-place finish for Wesley Korir (5,000m). Prior to head coach Ron Mann's arrival in Louisville in the summer of 2004, the Cardinal men had a total of two All-America performances, while in the last three NCAA track championship meets (2007 outdoor and indoor, 2006 outdoor), the Cardinal men have finished with eight All-America performances and two NCAA indoor champions. Entering every season, we want to be a conference contender, which we were, we want to be a regional power, which we were and we want to be a strong national representative, and seventh is a pretty strong national finish," said Mann. "Finishing seventh out of more than 300 schools is like going to the Elite Eight in basketball and I couldn't be prouder of our team. This was a special season for not only Louisville track and field, but for Cardinal athletics across the board and we believe even bigger things are ahead for us." Up next, the Cards expect to have a limited number of athletes competing at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 21-24 in Indianapolis, Ind. NCAA Outdoor Championships - Sacramento, Calif. Day Four Results
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