By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota swimming and diving teams kicked off the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships in record-setting fashion Thursday evening.
 
And the Cardinals picked up right where they left off on Friday.
 
Brooke Shefchik (Stevens Point, Wis.) — a member of the Cardinals' record-setting 800 freestyle relay team Thursday — picked up school-record No. 2, touching the wall in 5:32.44 in the 500 freestyle, breaking the 15-year-old school record of 5:35.84, set by Heidi Andre in 2014.
 
In Thursday evening's opening action, Shefchik teamed with Ashlyn Seifert (Austin, Texas), Katie Beitz (Blaine, Minn.), and Claire King (Red Wing, Minn.) team to post a time of 8:30.88, breaking the old school mark of 8:32.71, set in 2017.
 
In other action during Friday's preliminaries, Claire King (Red Wing, Minn.) posted a time of 5:58.03 in the 500 freestyle, while Emme Quandt (Shawano, Wis.) and Erica Camarato (DeForest, Ill.) touched the wall in 2:32.79 and 2:38.93, respectively in the 200 IM, and Beitz and Seifert recorded times of 26.82 and 27.45, respectively, in the 50 freestyle. Kierra Walske (Rochester, Minn.) — competing in her final MIAC Championships — placed 12^th in the 3-meter diving, placing 13th with a score of 256.60.
 
The women's 400 medley relay also competed Friday, as Amanda Hansen (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), Shefchik, Quandt and Seifert placed ninth with a time of
 
Griffin Rades (Shawano, Wis.) was the only individual from the Cardinal men's squad to compete on Friday, delivering a 2:04.84 in the 200 IM.
 
The four-day event, held at the University of Minnesota's Jean Freeman Aquatic Center, continues on Saturday, with preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.