ST. PAUL, Minn. — Todd Yankowski (Chicago, Ill.) led the way for the Saint Mary's University men's track team at the Macalester Invitational Wednesday evening, posting a seventh-place effort in the 400, as well as running a leg in the fifth-place finishing 4 x 400 relay team.

Yankowski broke the tape in 51.52 to place seventh in the 400, then teamed with Jim Baertsch (Winona, Minn.), Jim Bansley (Chicago, Ill.) and Keith Pieschek (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) to post a time of 3:35.17 to finish fifth in the 4 x 400. Bansley also added a ninth-place time of 2:01.18 in the 800.

The Macalester Invitational was just the start of a busy week for the Cardinals.

Two SMU women relay teams — the distance medley team of Tera Bolig (Cambridge, Minn.), Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.), Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) and Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.), and the sprint medley team of Megan Moran (Burlington, Wis.), Valk, Roche and Koranda — have qualified for the prestigious Drake Relays, to be held Friday and Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. The distance medley team will race at 9:32 a.m. on Friday, while the distance medley team will compete at 10:28 a.m. on Saturday.

The rest of the Cardinals will be competing at the UW-La Crosse Invitational on Saturday in La Crosse, Wis.