DECORAH, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's and women's swimming and diving teams return from the Christmas break on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Luther to compete in the Norse Sprints.
 
The Norse Sprints Field:
• Luther, Saint Mary's, Augsburg, Coe, Carleton, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh (women divers)
 
The Cardinals' Last Action:
• December 2-3, 2016 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) and Joe Tonda (St. Paul, Minn.) combined to reach the consolation finals in three events in leading the Cardinals at the two-day Jean Freeman Invitational at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center | Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
 
The Cardinals at Norse Sprints—Their Last Appearance:
• 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' Up Next:
• The Cardinals return to action on Jan. 21, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., to take part in the Macalester Invitational.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Men's Roster | 2016-17 Women's Roster | 2016-17 Schedule | Record Book
• Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) earned a spot in the consolation finals in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the Jean Freeman Invitational on Dec. 2-3. VanBeest stopped the clock in 1:09.52 to place 14^th in the 100 breaststroke, while adding a 16^th-place time of 2:33.25 in the 200 breaststroke. … VanBeest also shaved eight seconds off her season-best 200 IM time, touching the wall in 2:21.43 and notched a time of 5:05.96 in the 400 IM. … Joe Tonda (St. Paul, Minn.) also earned a spot in the consolation finals at the Jean Freeman Invitational, placing 13^th overall with a time of 2:05.35. … The Cardinals' landed three more MIAC Championships qualifiers at the Jean Freeman Invitational— Zoe Schaetz (Winona, Minn.) in the 200 freestyle, Chloe Morrison (Ashkum, Ill.) in the 1,650 freestyle, and Nick Sawchuk (Rochester, Minn.) in the 100 freestyle. … Reese Galewski (Winona, Minn.) added a time of 5:49.14 in the 500 freestyle—nine seconds faster than her previous best this season—while also recording a 1:01.85 in the 100 butterfly and a 20:14.83 in the 1,650 freestyle. … Kizzy Bell (St. Paul, Minn.) chipped in a 1:12.33 in the 100 breaststroke, a 2:30.44 in the 200 IM, and she shaved six seconds off her season-best in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:37.88. … Christina Weldai (London, England) also got into the action, adding a time of 26.83 in the 50 freestyle and a 58.63 in the 100 freestyle. … Lucas Gerads (St. Cloud, Minn.) whittled three seconds off his 500 freestyle time, posting a 5:22.88, while also recording times of 59.92 in the 100 backstroke and 56.98 in the 100 butterfly. … Matt Clayton (Forest Lake, Minn.) chipped in a 2:11.70 in the 200 IM, a 51.4 in the 100 freestyle, and a 2:30.65 in the 200 breaststroke.