WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's and women's outdoor track and field teams once again found success in a Saturday meet. The Cardinals saw a combined 11 student-athletes earn first place honors in individual events at the Saint Mary's Drake Alternative Saturday, while a handful of student-athletes cracked the top-10, not just in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), but in the nation as well.
Anna Swanson (Osceola, Wis.) was one of these athletes, as she found success in two events Saturday afternoon. In addition to finishing second in the 800 with a time of 2:32.33, Swanson won the javelin competition thanks to her throw of 42.46m. That throw is currently the No. 1 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season and moves her up to eighth in the nation.
The Saint Mary's women found continued success in the field events, as Sydney Klausler (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South), Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.), Rachel Ohde (Chetek, Wis.), and Caroline Gearin (Osceola, Wis.) all won their respective individual events. Klausler, who already held the top long jump mark in the MIAC this season, won the event with a jump of 5.55 meters to maintain her pace as queen of the event. Teammate Kubes recorded two top-3 finishes in shot put and hammer throw, winning the shot with a throw of 11.14m, before finishing third in hammer with a throw of 40.08m.
Ohde won the high jump with a jump of 1.58m, moving to second on the MIAC performance lists. Gearin put together a strong day for Saint Mary's, as she won both the 800m run and the pole vault competition Saturday afternoon. The first year distance specialist finished first in the 800m thanks to her time of 2:25.17, a full six seconds faster than Swanson. Gearin then went ahead and won the pole vault competition as well thanks to a vault of 3.40m.
Amanda Tuvey (West St. Paul, Minn.) also found success on the track, as she won the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 12:20.08.
The men had equal success Saturday afternoon, with five Cardinals carding first place finishes. Frankie Bakalars (La Crosse, Wis.) provided the highlight of the day, as he won the hammer throw, thanks to his throw of 50.25m, which currently ranks third in the MIAC. His teammate, Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.) continued his reign as the king of long jump, as he won the event with a jump of 6.56m, while Sean Curran (Appleton, Wis.) won discus with a throw of 40.57m and finished second in hammer thanks to a throw of 48.88m. Fellow thrower Jacob Homan (North Mankato, Minn.) won shot put with a throw of 13.22m.
Matt Boone (Mindoro, Wis.) continued to dominate on the track for the Cardinals, winning the 400m dash with a time of 50.74. Teammate Jon Meaden (Rosemount, Minn.) recorded two top-3 finishes in two different distance races, finishing second in the 1500m run with a time of 4:09.88 and third in the 800m run with a time of 2:01.70.
Saint Mary's will be back in action on Saturday, May 1, when the team hosts the Saint Mary's Invitational at the Saint Mary's Track and Field Complex. It will serve as the Cardinals final tune up before the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, set to take place May 14-15 in St. Peter, Minn.
