Complete Meet Results

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University swimming and diving teams were on a mission Friday evening in their regular-season finale against St. Thomas at the Jul Gernes Pool.

That mission, however, had nothing to do with team scores.

It was all about giving their four graduating seniors the proper send-off — not to mention enjoying one last dual meet before the final push towards the season-ending MIAC Championships.

"This meet wasn't about winning or losing, it was about enjoying one last bit of competition before the conference championships, not to mention letting our seniors savor one last home meet," said SMU coach Eric Lindquist, whose men's team dropped a 120-62 decision to the visiting Tommies, while the Cardinal women came out on the short end of a 117-53 decision vs. UST. "The night had a bit of a light-hearted atmosphere — we were still competing hard, but it wasn't necessarily in the events they are usually accustomed to."

For example, Danielle Braun (Cold Spring, Minn.), the Cardinals' top breaststroker, brought home one of the Cardinals' three first-place finishes — in the 50 freestyle (27.93). Eric Hills (Lake Elmo, Minn.), known for his performances in the freestyle events, picked up another of SMU's firsts — in the 100 butterfly (1:00.71), out-touching teammate Tom Walsh (Prior Lake, Minn.), who took second in 1:01.95.

Curtis Kempton (Owatonna, Minn.) wasn't about to stray from what he does best — diving — as the SMU freshman swept the one-meter and three-meter events, posting point totals of 244.50 in the one-meter and 267.50 in the three-meter — missing equalling the school's three-meter record by 11 points.

John Fox (Winona, Minn.) added a second-place effort in the 50 freestyle (22.90), while Jennifer Salzman (Hilo, Hawaii) was second in the 100 butterfly (1:10.03) and Colleen Joyce (Chicago, Ill.) was third in the 100 backstroke (1:23.79).

"This was a nice way for us to close out the regular season," said Lindquist. "Some people were able to work out a few kinks in their specific events, while others were able to try their hand in a few different events.

"All-in-all, despite the final scores, it was a pretty successful way to close out the regular-season."