Complete Meet Results

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — With just three competitive dates left before the season-ending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships — not to mention the fact that it's been more than a month since the Saint Mary's University competed — the Cardinals can not afford to take any meet for granted.

And they certainly weren't taking anything for granted on Friday.

Despite the final team scores in dual-meet losses to Carleton, the Cardinals showed little signs of the rust from the long layoff as they finally got back into competitive mode against the Knights.

"This was a tough meet for us in that we have been training very hard and everyone was pretty tired and sore," said SMU coach Eric Lindquist. "There were a lot of very bright spots for us individually, but I think we also learned that we've still got a lot of work ahead of us — and really, not a lot of time left (before the conference championships).

"All things considered, I was pleased with the way we swam — there were some pretty impressive swims, especially considering how hard we have been training."

David Ballard (Ramsey, Minn.) posted a first-place finish in the SMU men's 196-82 loss to Carleton, while Danielle Braun (Cold Spring, Minn.) posted the SMU women's lone first-place effort in their 230-55 setback at the hands of the host Knights.

Ballard clocked a time of 18:59.89 in winning the 1,650 freestyle, while also chipping in a second-place time of 2:23.98 in the 200 butterfly. John Fox (Winona, Minn.) and Tom Walsh (Prior Lake, Minn.) posted second-place double-doubles, as Fox was second in both the 100 (1:01.34) and 200 (2:25.24) breaststroke and Walsh was second in the 50 (24.09) and 100 (53.34) freestyle events.

Braun's time of 1:13.37 in the 100 breaststroke was the brightest bright spot for the SMU women, while the SMU junior also added a third in the 200 breaststroke (2:42.00) and Sarah Hayden (Chatfield, Minn.) posted a second-place score of 150.10 in the one-meter diving.

"Carleton is a very good team, and we knew we were going to have our hands full trying to keep up with them," admitted Lindquist, whose team closes out its regular season with home meets against UW-River Falls (Jan. 27) and St. Thomas (Feb. 2), before the MIAC Championships on Feb. 15-17. "We've still got a ton of work to do before the conference meet, but I like what I saw from both teams tonight."