Dec. 5, 2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For the third straight season, the University of Louisville men's and women's track and field program will open the indoor season with a pre-holiday test Friday at the Fast Start Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois University at the SIU Recreational Center in Carbondale, Ill.

The meet, which will be the Cards only event in December, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET with the throwing events, while the track events are set for 5:30 p.m. ET.

"The Fast Start Invitational is an opportunity for us to get an idea of where we are after our fall training season," said U of L head coach Ron Mann, entering his fourth season with the Cards. "It's an opportunity for our younger athletes, particularly our freshmen women, to compete on the college stage for the first time."

The Cards enter the 2008 indoor season following the best calendar year school history in 2007. U of L was one of only two programs in the nation to earn top 10 team finishes in all three NCAA track and field and cross country events in 2007. Led by NCAA event champions Tone Belt (long jump) and Andre Black (triple jump), the Cards finished 10th at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March and followed that with a school record setting seventh-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June.

And last month, the Cards closed the cross country season with a school record ninth-place team finish and two All-American performances overall at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

"We've had a lot of success in 2007 and it's truly been a special year for our program, but we're also very excited about where this program can go in 2008 and beyond," Mann said. "We continue to add talent to our men's and women's teams and build for the future. We'll certainly face some challenges in 2008, but our coaches and our athletes are ready for another great year."

One such challenge for the Cardinal men in 2008 will be overcoming the absence of Belt and Black during the indoor season as both juniors will redshirt and will not compete for U of L until the outdoor season. Belt and Black, the first pair of athletes from one school to sweep the NCAA indoor long jump and triple jump titles in the same year and the Cards' first ever NCAA event champions, each have the necessary qualifying standards in their primary events (Belt in the long jump and Black in the triple jump) to compete at the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials on June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore., and with both athletes aspiring to represent Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Mann agreed to limit their competition schedule early in the calendar year to improve their chances for strong performances at the Trials.

"Tone and Andre are both extremely talented and driven athletes and we want to put all of our athletes in the best possible situations to succeed," said Mann. "They've earned the opportunity to pursue their Olympic dreams and by redshirting them during the indoor season, they should be much fresher for the Trials in late June and early July.

"The collegiate track and field season can be a real grind from early Dec., all the way through the NCAA Outdoor Championships in mid-June, so by cutting out any competition until late March with the start of the outdoor season, Tone and Andre should be in a better position to succeed in Eugene."

Although the decision to redshirt both athletes had already been determined by Mann and Cards' jumps coach Jake Jacoby during the 2007 outdoor season, the time off will also benefit Belt's return from injury after the native of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., suffered a torn ACL in his left knee at the USA Outdoor Championships in June. The four-time NCAA All-American is currently ahead of schedule with his rehabilitation and should be at full competition speed with the start of the outdoor season in late March.

Following the Fast Start Invitational, the Cards will have a break for the holidays before returning to action at the Indiana Open on Jan. 12 in Bloomington, Ind.