WINONA, Minn. — It doesn't happen often — once a year to be exact — but when it does, the Saint Mary's University track and field teams make it sure it's spectacular.

It is a home meet.

And, once again this season, it was impressive.

To say the least.

"Everyone likes to be able to compete on their home track," said SMU coach Kirk Nauman. "And our teams are no different."

If Saturday's performance at the Cardinal Invitational is any indication, the Cardinals don't just like to compete on their home track — they love it.

SMU picked up 13 first-place finishes and broke three school records in front of their home fans Saturday, as Rob Friendt (Ogden, Utah), Israel Burns (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) all wrote their names — well, erased and rewrote their names — in the Cardinal record books.

Koranda broke her own mark in the mile run, winning in a record-setting time of 5:16.70, while Burns improved on his school mark in the weight throw (14.05 meters) and Friendt brought home a first in the 55 hurdles with a record-setting time of 8.05.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg for the Cardinals.

Friendt picked up firsts in the 55 (6.70), pole vault (4.16 meters) and long jump (6.32 meters, while Becky Baron (Rapid River, Mich.) won both the 55 (7.62) and the 200 (27.94). Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) was first in the 1,000 (3:06.64), Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.) won the 55 hurdles (8.68), Karl Hatteberg (Waltham, Minn.) was first in the mile (5:01.87), Aaron Raulin (Madison, Wis.) was first in the 600 (1:28.60), and Jon Pace (Minoqua, Wis.) cleared 1.52 meters to win the high jump,

"It was a pretty impressive performance — to set three school records and pick up 13 first-place finishes, you can't ask for much more than that," said Nauman. "I was pleased with everyone's performance today, not just those that won events. We had some outstanding efforts up and down the line. We're gearing ourselves towards that conference championships, and I like what I'm seeing this early in the season."