Complete Meet Results

WINONA, Minn. — Before the season started, Saint Mary's University swimming and diving coach Eric Lindquist tabbed Friday's season-opening dual meet against Luther as "The Benchmark Meet."

It was a meet Lindquist would use to see just where the bar would be set at the start of the season.

If Friday's performance against the Norse is any indication, that bar has been set high.

Very high.

"I'm very happy with what I saw," said Lindquist, whose men's team dropped a 170-35 decision to the Norse, while the Cardinal women fell 176-42. "The final scores are a bit misleading – Luther was an army of blue out there. (Luther) is a tough, deep team and they were just too much for us from a dual-meet perspective.

"But, individually, we got some very good performances, and that's what this meet was all about for us."

Breaststrokers led the way for the Cardinals, as SMU freshman Jon Fox (Winona, Minn.) — swimming in his first collegiate meet — broke the pool and school records in winning the 100 breaststroke (1:01.03), while junior Danielle Braun (Cold Spring, Minn.) just missed breaking her own school mark in the 100 breaststroke, winning the event in 1:13.17.

"Our goal heading into this meet was to get our feet wet and get that first meet under our belt," said Lindquist. "It's tough when you go against a team as powerful as Luther, but I think everyone was pretty happy with their performances.

"Our upperclassmen swam well and turned in some strong performances, but it was also evident we were still a little rusty," added Lindquist. "As a coach, there was a lot to smile about — but this meet also showed that we've got a lot of work ahead of us."