By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — As if competing against the best athletes in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wasn't tough enough, Mother Nature decided to throw in less than ideal weather conditions for the opening day of the season-ending MIAC Outdoor Championships Friday.
 
But the Cardinals did not let the competition—or Mother Nature—keep them from putting together a banner day.
 
Becca Dup led the way for the Cardinals, posting a second-place leap of 5.53 meters in the long jump. Dup—who won both the long and triple jumps at the MIAC Indoor Championships in March, and owns the seventh-longest outdoor long jump in NCAA Division III this season at 5.74m—was edged out for the conference crown to St. Catherine's Tori Thompson, who won the event with a jump of 5.54m.
 
Rachel Ohde made the most of her first MIAC Outdoor Championships, placing fifth in the high jump, clearing 1.56 meters. Ross Kinderman delivered an eighth-place effort in the javelin (49.68m), while Desmond Steward added a ninth in the long jump (6.46m) and David Kemper chipped in a 10^th in the pole vault (4.15m).
 
Brandon Krogman, the reigning MIAC Indoor Champion in the 800, continued to excel in the event outdoors, winning his 800 heat Friday, breaking the tape in 1:56.93—the second-fastest time of the afternoon behind a 1:56.46 by Bethel's Evan Hatton—to earn a spot among the eight competing in Saturday's final.
 
The Cardinals also boasted a pair of sprinters who qualified for the 100-meter final—Kyle Lichttenegger posted the fifth-fastest time in the men's preliminaries (10.95) and Alexis Floresca recorded the sixth-fastest women's time, breaking the tape in 12.68.
 
Lichttenegger also qualified for Saturday's final in the 200, clocking the sixth-fastest time in the event (22.31)—a time equaled by teammate Noah Anderson, who will join Lichttenegger in the 200 final.
 
Other top performances for the Cardinal women during Friday's action included: Floresca (9^th in 200, 26.56), Hannah Crowe (12^th in the 400 hurdles, 1:08.52), Carley Cronen (14^th in the 800, 2:28.17), Alicia Berkenes (15^th in the 800, 2:28.99), Portia Mensah (15^th in the 100, 13.15), Dup (17^th, in the 100, 13.25), Danielle Franke (24^th in the 1,500, 5:14.43), and Kynzie Smedsrud (21^st in the 100 hurdles, 16.89, and 17^th in the 400 hurdles, 1:10.17).
 
On the men's side, other top showings for the Cardinals included: Lichttenegger (11th in the long jump, 6.41m), Tyler Amy (17^th in the shot put, 12.30m), Matthew Boone (20^th in the 100, 11.45), Ben Borash (21^st in the 1,500, 4:11.88), Andrew Allemann (23^rd in the 200, 23.79), and Jonathon Meaden (26^th  in the 1,500,  4:18.10).
 
The Cardinal women are sitting in ninth place after the opening day of the two-day event, with the Saint Mary's men sitting 11^th. The championships conclude on Saturday, with event beginning at 2 p.m. at Carleton's Laird Stadium.