Day 1 Session I: Results | Recap
Day 1 Session II: Results | Recap
Day 2 Session I: Results | Recap
Day 2 Session II: Results | Recap

GameDay Preview | MIAC Championships Homepage

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The times just kept dropping for the Saint Mary's University swimming and diving teams during the second day of the three-day Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships Friday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Each Cardinal who took to the pool Friday put together a season-best performance, leading the SMU men to a eighth-place team finish and the women to a 10th-place showing after Day 2.

"Our goal every year is to come up here and put together season-best performances — and that's exactly what we have been doing," said SMU coach Eric Lindquist. "Everyone's putting together some really impressive swims. I'm very happy with our performance again today."

P.J. Heller (St. Cloud, Minn.) shaved five seconds off his MIAC-qualifying time in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in 1:52.13, while Joe Tonda (St. Paul, Minn.) posted his best time of the season in the 100 backstroke, stopping the clock in 57.38.

Anna Smaron (Maple Plain, Minn.) got the best of teammate Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) in Thursday's 200 IM preliminaries, as the duo posted times of 2:24.79 and 2:26.54, respectively. And Friday morning, VanBeest turned the tables on her senior compatriot, as the two swam against each other in the 100 breaststroke. The two both put together their best times of the season, with VanBeest touching the wall in 1:11.52, followed by Smaron at 1:13.00.

Like Smaron and VanBeest, SMU divers Sarah Jansen (Manitowoc, Wis.) and Clare Judeh (Eagan, Minn.) also had their own "Cardinal Clash" at the conference championship. A day after Judeh outpointed Jansen in the three-meter diving competition, it was Jansen grabbing the upper hand on Friday, as the senior posted 259.00 points in the one-meter diving event, with Judeh close on her heels at 252.40.

The Cardinals also competed in the day's two relay events, as the SMU women's medley relay team whittled nearly eight seconds off their best time to finish in 2:04.20, while the men's medley relay team followed suit with a nine-second drop, posting a time of 1:50.92.

In the final event of the evening, the SMU women's 800 freestyle relay team recorded a time of 9:27.10.

SMU DAY 1 RECAP: Evan Lecy (St. Paul, Minn.), competing in his first-ever conference championships, earned a spot in the one-meter diving finals, posting a preliminary score of 289.85 — nearly 40 points higher than his collegiate-best MIAC-qualifying score of 250.85 at the St. Catherine Invitational on Jan. 25 — en route to an eighth-place finish

Tonda and Heller also had solid Day 1 performances for the Cardinal men, as Tonda clocked a time of 2:05.43 in 200 IM and Heller finished the 50 freestyle in 23.08. Tonda and Heller also teamed with Scott Carnahan (St. Cloud, Minn.) and James Lynch (Chicago, Ill.) to post a time of 4:13.02 in the 400 medley relay, while the four also teamed up for a time of 1:38.54 in the 200 freestyle relay.

On the women's side, Smaron posted a time of 2:24.79 in the 200 IM, out-touching VanBeest, who finished in 2:26.54. Ashling Meehan (Glenview, Minn.) added a time of 27.76 in the 50 freestyle, while Marit Christianson (Cottage Grove, Minn.) recorded a time of 6:28.10 in the 500 freestyle, and Judeh and Jansen posted scores of 151.75 and 138.25, respectively, in the three-meter diving competition.

Smaron, VanBeest and Meehan joined forces with Kristin Wilkes (Savage, Minn.) to record a time of 4:36.18 in the 400 medley relay, while the 200 freestyle team of Smaron, VanBeest, Meehan and Bethany Schmidt (Sparta, Wis.) clocked a time of 1:47.62.