ST. PAUL, Minn. — It was officially called the Macalester Rider/Bolstorff Invitational, but with 10 of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's 13 schools competing, it might as well have been named the Pre-MIAC MIAC Championships.
 
And the Cardinals in general — and Chris Bulwa (Glenview, Ill.) in particular — made the most of their opportunity to go head-to-head with their conference foes prior to the "official" MIAC Outdoor Championships on May 12-13 in Arden Hills, Minn., recording three first-place finishes and 18 Top 15 efforts.
 
Bulwa was the brightest of the Cardinals' shining stars, as the sophomore had a hand in three first-place performances — winning both the 100 (11.02) and the 200 (22.53), while also teaming up with Ben Kritsberg (Rosemount, Minn.), Brady Johnson (Elburn, Ill.), and Antonio Cisewski (Custer, Wis.) to close a first-place time of 42.69 to win the 4x100.
 
Oliver Adamson (Rochester, Minn.) delivered a fourth in the 200 (23.07) and an eighth in the 100 (11.42), while Casen Fritz (Minnesota City, Minn.) finished fourth in the hammer (42.87m) and Cisewski added a fifth in the long jump (6.21m). Other top 15 performances for the SMU men included Brady Johnson (Elburn, Ill.) in the triple jump (eighth, 12.12m), Kritsberg in the 100 (11th, 11.49), and Fritz in the shot put (11th, 10.73m) and the discus (14th, 34.80m).
 
Caroline Gearin (Osceola, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinal women, placing second in the pole vault (3.60m) and seventh in the 400 (1:02.75). Morgan Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.) delivered a seventh in the shot put (11.55m) and an eighth in the discus (35.23), while Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.) finished seventh in the hammer (44.16m) and 10th in the shot put (11.26m), and Anna Becker (Cannon Falls, Minn.) added a 15th in the hammer (41.15m).
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday, when they head to Mankato, Minn., to take part in the Minnesota State-Mankato Open.