LA CROSSE, Wis. - Though the weather was a bit gloomy, the Saint Mary's track and field Cardinals made the most of it, sending athletes in multiple directions to compete against some of the Midwest's top talent.

The throwers of the team traveled to Mankato, Minnesota to compete whereas the rest of the team traveled across the river to compete in the Phil Esten Challenge hosted by UW-La Crosse.

Phil Esten Challenge
 
The men's 4x100m team was the first to tackle the track today, with Jinwoo Jung, Ryan Cramer, Brady Johnson, and Oliver Adamson racing to a third place finish with a time of 42.46s, which also moves them to fifth all time at SMU. 
 
In the 5K, Grant Schneider battled his way to a third-place finish with a personal-best time of 15:54.71 — the fastest 5K by any Saint Mary's male athlete in nearly a decade! His performance also secured him the eighth spot on the program's all-time leaderboard for the event.
 
In the 100m dash, Ryan Cramer claimed a fifth place finish in 10.86s, a new personal best that boosted him from seventh to fourth all time at Saint Mary's.
 
Eddie Paton was the highest finisher for the Cardinals in the men's 400m, finishing ninth with a time of 51.68s. 
 
In the men's 800m, Goi Ruei shattered a personal milestone by dipping under the two-minute mark, clocking in at 1:59.76. On the women's side, Abbie Meyer and Megan Frosch also took on the 800m, finishing 16th and 17th with times of 2:37.68 and 2:39.44, respectively.
 
In the 200m dash, Ben Kritsberg was the top finisher on the men's side with his finish of 23.20s which made him the 11th place finisher. Melissa Torres was the top for the women, with a time of 27.08s which earned her a 22nd place finish. 
 
Mya Slavin was the final Cardinal to hit the track, taking on a competitive field in the women's 1500m. Navigating through an aggressive pack, she powered her way to the front of her heat, crossing the line in 4:53.38 — just shy of her personal best — and securing 13th place overall.
 
Mya Slavin was the final Cardinal to hit the track, taking on a competitive field in the women's 1500m. Navigating through an aggressive pack, she powered her way to the front of her heat, crossing the line in 4:53.38 — just shy of her personal best — and securing 13th place overall.
 
Maverick Invitational
 
The throws squad competed in a different meet held up in Mankato, and also kept the momentum going for the track and field team. 
 
Morgan Wallendal led the way for the Cardinals in the discus and hammer throw. She claimed sixth in the discus with a personal-best toss of 41.57m — a mark that now ranks second all-time in program history — and placed seventh in the hammer throw at 46.40m. Anna Becker wasn't far behind, securing 10th in the hammer with a solid throw of 44.41m.
 
Casen Fritz also had a great showing for the men, finishing 14th overall with a throw of 45.04m, tying his personal best of all time. 
 
The Track and Field teams will be competing again next week at the Rider/Bolstorff Invitational at Macalester College in St. Paul, with select athletes competing in the 5k on Thursday, April 24th, and the remainder of the team competing Saturday, April 26th.