WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota track and field coach
Niels Anderson had a simple approach to the team's outdoor opener at the Dingels/Brueggen Open Saturday afternoon: Rust remover.
Rust? What rust?
It may have been their first outdoor meet of the season, but the Cardinals appeared to be in mid-season form, posting six first-place finishes—including three school record-setting performances—at the non-team-scored event.
David Kemper led the way for the Cardinal men, shattering the previous school record in the pole vault—set in 2005—by clearing 4.60 meters en route to one of the Cardinals' six first-place efforts.
But Kemper wasn't the only Cardinal displaying winning form Saturday—far from it.
Jovan Newsum crushed the school mark in the 3,000, stopping the clock in 8:57.35 to place second, while
Becca Dup—the reigning MIAC indoor champion in the long jump—kicked off the outdoor season with a record-setting leap of 5.43 meters to place third overall.
Austin O'Hare cruised to a first-place finish in the 1,500 with a time of 4:09.07, well in front of runner-up
Ben Borash (4:20.23), while
Brandon Krogman picked up where he left off in the indoor season, stopping the clock in 50.25 to win the 400.
Jacob Hagen-Erickson posted a first-place effort in the triple jump (11.78m) to edged out teammate
Ryan Buchmeier (11.73m), and
Ross Kinderman chipped in a throw of 44.18 meters in winning the javelin.
Hagen-Erickson also added a second-place showing in the long jump (6.21m), while
Kyle Lichttenegger added a pair of thirds in the 100 (11.54) and long jump (6.21m), and
Josh Balsiger placed third in the 400 (54.43).
On the women's side,
Maria Missurelli earned a first-place showing, posting a vault of 2.96 meters to win the pole vault, while teammate
Rebekah Ramos placed third (2.81m). Along with her record-setting showing in the long jump, Dup also added a second in the triple jump (10.99m), and
Alicia Berkenes added a second in the 1,500 (5:23.91) and
Bailey Joens was third in the high jump (1.55m)
