NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Friday's track and field meet was supposed to be a final tune-up for the upcoming Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships — thus the name Pre-MIAC Meet.

And if what he saw from his Cardinals at the Pre-MIAC Meet is any indication, Saint Mary's University coach Kirk Nauman can hardly wait for the real thing.

"We had a great tune-up for the conference meet," understated Nauman, whose teams broke four more school records, picked up seven first-place finishes, and had one NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships provisional qualifier. "We have already accomplished a number of things that this program has never done before, so I am very excited to see what next weekend's MIAC has in store."

Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) led the Cardinals' record-setting assault, as the senior provisionally qualified for the national championships with a leap of 5-4 1/4 in the high jump. It was one of three first-place efforts for Dingels, who also ran the second leg on both SMU's 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relay teams, which both set school records en route to their first-place showings. Dingels was joined by Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.), Emily Bartusek (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Becky Baron (Rapid River, Mich.) in posting a time of 1:47.85, while Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) replaced Baron and teamed with Valk, Dingels and Bartusek to win the 4 x 400 (4:07.76).

Roche also broke her own school record in the 600 with a time of 1:40.17. Rob Friendt (Ogden, Utah) accounted for SMU's other school record, as the junior broke his own pole vault mark, winning the event with a vault of 14-9. Friendt was also first in the 55 hurdles (8.22) and the long jump (21-8 1/4), while Baron won the 200 (27.38).

Beth Cleveland (Wausau, Wis. / weight throw, 44-5 1/2), Amanda Weinmann (Rochester, Minn. / shot put, 39-6 1/2) and Bartusek (400, 1:01.56) chipped in second-place efforts, while Dan Gerber (Belvidere, Ill. / 55, 6.84), Aaron Raulin (Madison, Wis. / 600, 1:16.14), Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn. / 800, 2:21.96) and Valk (55 hurdles, 8.94) chipped in thirds.

"I'm excited about our performance," said Nauman. "It's great to see us put together so many top-three finishes — and I think it really sets us up nicely for the conference meet.

"It's going to be interesting to see how everything shakes out next weekend."