WINONA, Minn. — Kirk Nauman looked at last Saturday's season-opening MSU-Mankato Invitational as a warm-up for the Saint Mary's University track and field teams.

The Cardinals didn't have a lot of competitors in the event, and Nauman figured it was just be a nice way to ease into the indoor track season.

Friday evening at the UW-Eau Claire Invitational, there was no easing in for the Cardinals as they took on the rest of the field with a full head of steam.

Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) and Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) picked up first-place finishes to lead the Cardinal women to a fourth-place finish in the seven-team field. The men, meanwhile, got a sixth-place finish from Jim Bansley (Chicago, Ill.) and seventh-place efforts from Keith Pieschek (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) and Jim Baertsch (Winona, Minn.) in placing sixth.

Roche picked up her first collegiate individual victory in the 800, outkicking Koranda down the stretch to finish in 2:27.67. Koranda settled for second with a time of 2:31.79, then turned around and posted a school-record time of 4:59.89 in winning the 1,500. Jenny Folgers (McHenry, Ill.) chipped in a second in the 55 hurdles (8.78), while Renee Willkom (Cadott, Wis.) was third in the 3,000 (11:14.66) and Amanda Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.) was third in the shot put (12.05 meters).

Bansley led the way for the SMU men, placing sixth in the 3,000 with a time of 9:42.0, while Pieschek was close behind, placing seventh in 9:44.90. Baertsch's seventh-place effort came in the 1,500, where he clocked a time of 4:33.00. Brent Bendson (Baxter, Minn.) also chipped in a seventh-place showing, recording a time of 1:01.90 in the 400.