By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — With the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships just over a week away, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's track and field coach Niels Anderson was looking for some championship-caliber performances from his Cardinals at Wednesday's St. Thomas Tommie Twilight.
 
And senior Maria Missurelli (Franklin, Wis.) gave the Saint Mary's head coach exactly what he was looking for.
 
Missurelli, who will be competing in her final conference championships next weekend in Northfield, Minn., turned in the performance of the meet for the Cardinals Wednesday, breaking her own school record in the pole vault, clearing 3.50 meters.
 
Missurelli's school-record effort, which broke her own 2016 mark of 5.49m, was the top performance by a Division III competitor Wednesday—the University of Minnesota's Karlie Place and Lexi Kiefer took home the top two spots.
 
Natalie King (Houston, Minn.) also put together a top-five showing, placing fifth in the hammer throw (45.19m), with Rachel Ohde (Chetek, Wis.) adding a sixth in the high jump (1.56m). Alexis Floresca (Romeoville, Ill.) chipped in a time of 26.68 in the 200, Carley Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn.) delivered a 2:28.07 in the 800, and Danielle Franke (Forest Lake, Minn.) posted a time of 5:04.53 in the 1,500.
 
Both the Cardinal women and men return to action on Saturday, heading back to St. Paul, Minn., to take part in Hamline's Meet of the UnSaintly.