WINONA, Minn. — Mother Nature did her best to rain on the Saint Mary's University track and field teams' outdoor opener Saturday afternoon.
 
But try as she might, Saint Mary's was unfazed — neither rain, nor chilly temperatures could faze the Cardinals.
 
Not in the least.
 
Saint Mary's posted 16 first-place finishes to highlight a stellar performance by both the men's and women's programs at the outdoor season-opening Masked Mayhem Opener at the SMU Track & Field Complex.
 
Matt Boone (Mindoro, Wis.) closed out the indoor portion of his senior season in style with three first-place finishes at the COVID Clash, and the speedster picked up right where he left off, posting his second straight first-place triple Saturday afternoon.
 
Boone stopped the clock in 11.32 to win the prelims of the 100, then did that one better with a time of 11.16 in winning the finals. And the senior wasn't finished, blowing away the field in the 200 with a winning time of 22.63.
 
Garret Jackson (West Linn, Ore.) finished second to Boone in both the prelims (11.43) and finals (11.40) of the 100, and added a third-place time of 23.23 in the 200. Isaiah Brindamour (Hinckley, Minn.) chipped in a first-place time of 2:05.04 in the 800 and Jon Meaden (Rosemount, Minn.) broke the tape in 4:10.30 to win the 1,500.
 
But wait, there's more … much more
 
Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.) delivered a leap of 6.20 meters to share the top spot in the long jump, Coleton Strupp (Holmen, Wis.) cleared 4.00 meters to win the pole vault, and Jacob Homan (North Mankato, Minn.) uncorked a toss of 12.97 meters to win the shot put. Quinn Steinbrecher (Holmen, Wis.), Dan Cooper (Belle Plaine, Minn.) and Strupp each chipped in third-place efforts, Steinbrecher's the 1,500 (4:30.93), Cooper's in the triple jump (11.83m), and Strupp's in the javelin (35.80).
 
And that was just the men's portion of the five-team event — as impressive as the men were, the Cardinal women were equally as impressive
 
Anna Swanson (Osecola, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinal women, posting three first-place efforts — winning the 800 (2:28.50), the javelin (37.27m), and running the anchor leg of the Cardinals' winning 4x400 relay.
 
Sydney Klausler (Lakeville, Minn.) chipped in a pair of firsts, in the long jump (5.32m) and as part of the 4x400 relay, while Rachel Ohde (Chetek, Wis.) paced a 1-2 in the high jump with a leap of 1.58m, and Amanda Tuvey (West. St. Paul, Minn.), Caroline Gearin (Osceola, Wis.), and Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.) — all making their outdoor collegiate debuts — posted firsts in the 1,500 (5:12.21), 400 (59.95), and shot put (10.53m), respectively. Gearin and Mirjana Ganley rounded out the Cardinals' first-place finishing 4x400, and Bailey Joens (Osage, Iowa) and Nathalie Freire (Bloomington, Minn.) were second in the high jump (1.53m) and javelin (30.95m), respectively.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday, heading to Collegeville, Minn., to take part in the Saint John's Invitational.