By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Talk about a perfect encore.
 
Or would it be an encore of the encore?
 
Brennen McClay (Shakopee, Minn.) qualified for the finals for a second straight day to lead the Saint Mary's men's swim team at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships Friday, while Brooke Shefchik (Stevens Point, Wis.) recorded her third school record in as many days to lead the Cardinal women's charge.
 
McClay — who placed 12th in the finals of the 50 freestyle on Thursday — put together the third-fastest 200 freestyle time in program history to reach the finals of Friday's 200 freestyle, stopping the clock in 1:48.33.
 
McClay wasn't the only Cardinal to earn a spot in the evening finals, as Griffin Rades (Shawano, Wis.) joined his teammate, thanks to a season-best 58.57 in the 100 backstroke.
 
In the finals, McClay picked up his second 12th-place effort of the championships, touching the wall in 1:48.13 in the 200 freestyle, while Rades finished 15th in the 100 backstroke, stopping the clock in 58.12.
 
Shefchik, meanwhile, picked up right where she left off on Thursday — with another school record.
 
The Cardinal junior — who already etched her name in the school record books with a time of 5:23.13 in the 500 freestyle and as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team that broke its own school record with a time of 8:30.30 — made it 3-for-3 with a 4:58.47 in the 400 IM.
 
In other action on Friday, Ashlyn Seifert (Austin, Texas) posted a time of 1:09.93 in the 100 butterfly, Katie Beitz (Blaine, Minn.) and Claire King (Red Wing, Minn.) posted lifetime bests of 2:08.51 and 2:09.92, respectively, in the 200 freestyle, and Darren Anes Dy Quiangco (Rochester, Minn.) and Erica Camarato recorded times of 1:09.41 and 1:17.79, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke.
 
The Cardinal women's 200 freestyle relay team of Beitz, Shefchik, Dakota Becerra (Yorba Linda, Calif.), and Seifert clocked a time of 1:51.22 to place 10th, while the men's 200 free relay of McClay, Rades, Anes Dy Quiangco, and Jostin Alvarado (Northlake, Ill.) was seventh in 1:38.73.
 
The Cardinals — who are sitting eighth in the men's team standings and ninth in the women's — are back in the pool on Saturday for the fourth and finall day of the season-ending event. Prelims at the U of M Aquatic Center are set for 10:30 a.m., with finals slated for 6:30 p.m.