Day 1 Prelim Results | Day 1 Final Results | GameDay Preview

ST. PAUL, Minn. — With one Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships under his belt, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota's Joe Tonda (St. Paul, Minn.) kicked off his second appearance at the conference championships in impressive fashion Thursday.
 
Tonda led the Cardinals' charge during the first day of the three-day event at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, clocking a time of 2:06.41 in the 200 IM, helping the Cardinal men to a seventh-place Day 1 finish.
 
Zac Finkelstein (Naperville, Ill.) just missed joining Tonda in reaching the consolation final in the 50 freestyle, posting a season-best time of 22.01 to place 18th, while Brian Mockler (Dubuque, Iowa) and P.J. Heller (St. Cloud, Minn.) also enjoyed season-best days in the 50, as Mockler knocked two seconds off his collegiate-best time, stopping the clock in 23.48, and P.J. Heller (St. Cloud, Minn.) chipped in a season-best time of 23.61.
 
Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) led the way for the Cardinal women—who are sitting in 11th after the opening day—shaving six second off her MIAC-qualifying time in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:23.34. Christina Weldai (London, England) and Ashling Meehan (Glenview, Ill.) recorded times of 27.41 and 27.69, respectively, in the 50 freestyle, while Marit Christianson (Cottage Grove, Minn.) added a time of 6:15.71 in 500 freestyle.
 
The event continues on Friday, with preliminaries in the morning and finals starting at 6 p.m.