WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's and women's swimming and diving teams kick off the 2016-17 season with a busy weekend, hosting Luther in a dual meet on Friday, before traveling to St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday to take part in the Tommie Relays.
 
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The Cardinals' Last Action:
• This weekend's action marks the season opener for the Cardinal swimming and diving teams.
 
The Cardinals vs. Luther—Their Last Meeting:
• January 16, 2016 * Decorah, Iowa:  Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) collected a pair of top 5 finishes—placing second in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 50 breaststroke—to spark the Cardinal women at the Luther Sprint Invitational, while Joe Tonda's (St. Paul, Minn.) seventh-place showing in the 100 breaststroke and top 10 efforts from Lucas Gerads (St. Cloud, Minn.) and Brian Mockler (Dubuque, Iowa) fueled the Cardinal men | Recap
 
The Cardinals at Tommie Relays—Their Last Appearance:
• October 24, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals kicked off the 2015-16 season by taking part in the non-team-scored Tommie Relays | Results
 
The Cardinals' Up Next:
• The Cardinals return home to the Jul Gernes Pool on Friday for an intra-squad meet, before heading to St. Paul, Minn., on Nov. 5 to compete in the Hamline Invitational.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Men's Roster | 2016-17 Women's Roster | 2016-17 Schedule | Record Book
• The Cardinals shattered five school records at the season-ending MIAC Championships last season. … Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) had a hand in four of the team's five school record-setting performances. VanBeest broke her own school record in the 100 breaststroke—twice. The Cardinal junior touched the wall in 1:09.30 in the prelims, narrowly beating her old mark of 1:09.39, before posting a 10^th-place time of 1:08.37 in the consolation finals. VanBeest also shaved six seconds off her own school mark in the finals of the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:26.35—earning her a fourth-place overall finish. … VanBeest also teamed with Reese Galewski (Winona, Minn.), Christina Weldai (London, England), and Caroline Hoffman (Chicago, Ill.) to smash the school-mark in the 200 medley relay, knocking two seconds off the hold mark with a time of 1:55.38 to finish eighth. … VanBeest also trimmed five seconds off her best 200 IM time, touching the wall in 2:19.88 to place 18^th and finish two spots out of a third consolation final berth. … Galewski reached the consolation finals in a pair of events at the MIAC meet a year ago, breaking the Cardinals' 16-year-old school record in the 200 butterfly with a time 2:21.09 to place 13^th, while also placing 14^th in the 100 butterfly with a season-best time of 1:01.61. … Joe Tonda (St. Paul, Minn.) shaved eight seconds off his season-best time in the 200 IM at the conference championships last season, stopping the clock in 2:01.61 to finish 19^th overall, narrowly missing out on reaching the consolation finals. … Tonda also placed 19^th in the 100 breaststroke, clocking a time of 1:02.70. … Lucas Gerads (St. Cloud, Minn.) enjoyed a banner first collegiate MIAC Championships, shaving nine seconds off his previous collegiate best in the 200 butterfly, finishing 17^th with a time of 2:09.20, while also posting a time of 56.11 to finish 18^th in the 100 butterfly. … P.J. Heller (St. Cloud, Minn.) closed out his Cardinal swimming career by whittling eight seconds off his season-best time in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in 1:51.92.