WINONA, Minn. - It's been nearly a month since the Saint Mary's University women's swimming and diving team had competed - and it showed in the Cardinals' dual-meet loss to St. Catherine last Saturday afternoon.

"We were a little rusty," admitted SMU coach Eric Lindquist, whose team had not swam competitively since Dec. 4, when the Cardinals took part in the SMU Invitational. "This was a good meet for us in that we were able to shake off a bit of that rust. We hadn't swam against an opponent in a long time, and, overall, I thought we did a pretty nice job."

Danielle Braun (Cold Spring, Minn.) certainly didn't show any signs of rust, as the SMU freshman won the 200 breaststroke in record-setting fashion, touching the wall in 2:39.39 to win the event. Lindsay DeLaRosby (Two Harbors, Minn.) won the 50 freestyle (26.58), while Becca Grube (Appleton, Wis.) chipped in a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle, clocking a personal-best time of 1:01.61.

SMU divers Jenny Moore (Richfield, Minn.) and Sarah Hayden (Fountain, Minn.) went 2-3 in the 3-meter competition, and Maggie Souchery (Woodbury, Minn.) added a second in the 200 freestyle (2:27.63).

"Our No. 1 goal with this meet was to get back into the pool in a competitive setting," said Lindquist, whose team closes out its regular season with a home meet vs. UW-River Falls on Jan. 29, followed by a road dual at St. Thomas on Feb. 5. "We've got about a month left (before the MIAC Championships on Feb. 17-19) and everyone is really getting geared up to be at their best for that meet."