ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Saint Mary's University track and field teams' outdoor season in officially off and running.
 
And run the Cardinals did.
 
With more than 100 teams and over 1,000 competitors, the Cardinals held their own in the outdoor season-opening weekend at the Washington (Mo.) University Distance Carnival and Invitational.
 
The Cardinal distance runners kicked things off last Friday, competing in the Distance Carnival. Sam Morris (Hockinson, Wash.) and Kendra Klobe (Glencoe, Minn.) posted times of 37:50.04 and 44:12.74, respectively, in the men's and women's 10K, while Caeli McMahon (Holmen, Wis. / 20:29.33), Megan Frosch (Oconomowoc, Wis. / 24:41.06), and Sean Smyth (Pinehurst, N.C. / 16:02.37) represented SMU in the 5K.
 
As good as SMU's distance runners were, however, it was the Cardinal throwers who stole the show on Friday.
 
Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.) led the way for the SMU women, winning the hammer with a throw of 49.27 meters, while Morgan Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis. / 13th, 39.31m) and Anna Becker (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 14th, 38.13m) also added finishes in the Top 15 in their first outdoor event of the season.
 
On the men's side, Casen Fritz (Minnesota City, Minn.) delivered a fourth-place toss of 40.19 meters and Ron White (Holmen, Wis.) added a throw of 37.51m to place seventh.
 
And it was more of the same during Saturday's second day of the WashU Invitational.
 
Chris Bulwa (Glenview, Ill.) led the second-day charge, placing second in the 200 with a school-record time of 21.77, while also teaming with Ben Kritsberg (Rosemount, Minn.), Brady Johnson (Elburn, Ill.), and Oliver Adamson (Rochester, Minn.) to place third in the 4x100 relay with a time of 42.31..
 
Henry Gathje (Chatfield, Minn.) chipped in a sixth-place toss of 44.20 meters to finish sixth in the javelin, while Adamson added a ninth in the 200 with a time of 22.46. White (11th, shot put, 11.50m), Dan Cooper (Belle Plaine, Minn. / 12th, long jump, 6.00m), Johnson (200, 14th, 22.94), and Fritz (15th, shot put, 10.08m) also turned in Top 15 efforts for the SMU men.
 
Wallendal came up with the SMU women's biggest performance of the day on Saturday, placing second in the discus with a throw of 39.31 meters. Jackman and Kubes chipped in marks of 11.58 meters and 11.53 meters, respectively, to finish seventh and eighth in the shot put, while Samantha Munson (Plain City, Utah) ran to 11th in the 100 (12.77) and 14th in the 200 (26.61).  Erica Wright (Blaine, Minn.) was 14th in the discus (30.40m), Wallendal finished 14th in the shot put (10.37m), and Brooklyn Gutierrez (Milwaukee, Wis.) added a 14th in the high jump (1.25m).
 
The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, as the enter SMU squad takes part in the WashU Invitational in St. Louis, Mo.