WINONA, Minn. — Last Thursday afternoon, Saint Mary's University's Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) tossed the javelin in a competitive meet for the first time in her career.

Not just her collegiate career — but her entire track and field career.

And she finished with a school-record toss of 114-3 and a first-place finish at the Luther Invitational.

Two days later, Luehmann was at it again, throwing the javelin eclipsing her school-record throw of two days ago by more than a foot, recording a throw of 115-8 to place second at the St. Thomas Invitational.

"I'm not all that surprised with Ashley's performances," said SMU coach Paul Thornton. "She is such an incredible athlete. She's the type of person who is as kind and gracious as anyone, but once you put her in an athletic venue, she's as competitive as anyone I've ever met.

"She enjoyed a great high school career, and she's on her way to a great collegiate career as well."

Luehmann also posted a throw of 39-3 in the shot put, good enough for a third-place finish, and added an eighth-place effort of 114-9 in the discus to pace the Cardinals in their second outdoor meet of the season. Jenny Folgers (McHenry, Ill.) chipped in a third-place time of 15.63 in the 100 hurdles and added a fourth-place effort of 1:09.38 in the 400 hurdles. Megan Mason (Rochester, Minn.) and Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) also pitched in fifth-place efforts, Mason's in the pole vault (9-3 3/4) and Dingels' in the shot put (37-11 1/4).

On the men's side, B.J. Klenke (Jordan, Minn.) led the way, placing fifth in the 800 with a time of 1:58.84. Luke Hofmann (St. Louis, Mo.) added an eighth-place time of 11:48.41 in the steeplechase.

"In general, it was an average meet for us," Thornton said. "But it could have been an incredible meet. We had some fantastic efforts, and we had some others that just missed."

After having their first two meets postponed due to Mother Nature's refusal to give up on winter, the Cardinals finally got on the track last Thursday.

And it was worth the wait.

Along with Luehmann's then-school record throw in the javelin, the SMU 4 x 400 relay team of Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.), Dingels, Tara Jenkins (Owatonna, Minn.) and Theresa Miller (New Berlin, Wis.) broke the eight-year-old school record with a second-place time of 13:26.3.

Folgers won the 100 hurdles in 15.41, while Koranda picked up a first in the 1,500, clocking a time of 5:04.16. Folgers also pitched in a second in the 400 hurdles (67.98), while Dingels was second in the high jump (5-0) and fourth in the 100 hurdles (16.79). Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.) recorded a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles (16.36) and a fourth in the 400 hurdles (68.25), and Miller was fourth in the 1,500 (5:12.0).

On the men's side, Todd Yankowski (Chicago, Ill.) was sixth in the shot put (37-1/4) and seventh in the 400 (53.05), while Klenke was 13th in the 1,500 (4:20.80).

"It was a good opening meet for both teams," said Thornton, whose team returns to action this week, taking part in the Kansas Relays. "It took a little while for us to finally get the season going, but now there's no looking back."