ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University track and field teams kicked off their 2024 indoor season Friday night — and they did so in impressive fashion.
 
The Cardinals collected 19 Top 10 finishes — including nine performances sitting in the Top 5 — at the season-opening St. Thomas Invitational.
 
In a meet that included several NCAA Division I and II schools,, Chris Bulwa (Glenview, Ill.) was the brightest of the bright stars for the Cardinals, winning the 200 with a time of 23.22.
 
Cade Kloss (Apple Valley, Minn.), Casen Fritz (Minnesota City, Minn.), Brady Johnson (Elburn, Ill.), Sean Smyth (Pinehurst, N.C.), Grant Schneider (Moorhead, Minn.), Eddie Paton (Katy, Texas), Antonio Cisewski (Custer, Wis.), and Evan Finney (West End, N.C.) also followed Bulwa's lead by delivering Top 5 finishes.
 
Kloss placed second in the 800 (2:13.73), Fritz (weight throw, 14.94m), Johnson (400, 54.54), and Smyth (3,000, 9:21.60) all chipped in third-place efforts, with Schneider (3,000, 9:38.85), Paton (400, 55.24), and Cisewski (long jump, 6.37m) placing fourth, and Finney notching a fifth (3,000, 10:06.00).
 
Along with his third in the 400, Johnson also placed eighth in the 200 (24.33), while Ron White (Holmen, Wis.) was seventh in the shot put (11.24m)
 
On the women's side, Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.) led the charge, posting a sixth in the weight throw (14.33m) and a seventh in the shot put (12.14m). Hanna Strom (Dodge Center, Minn.) and Mega Frosch (Oconomowoc, Wis.) added sevenths in the high jump (1.42m) and 800 (2:45.58), with Sydney Jackman (Litchfield, Minn.) and Abbie Meyer (Sauk Centre, Minn.) recording eighths in the shot put (11.87m) and 800 (2:45.86).
 
The Cardinals' 4x400 relay teams also chipped in a pair of Top 5 efforts, with the women's team of Rachel Kubichka (Cedarburg, Wis.), Caeli McMahon (Holmen, Wis.), Frosch, and Meyer placing third (4:53.78) and the men — made up of Bulwa, Cannon Manley (Burton, Texas), Kloss and Isaiah Fitzgerald (Rochester, Minn.) — taking fourth in 3:50.0
 
The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday, when they travel to La Crosse, Wis., to take part in the UW-La Crosse Invitational.