STEVENS POINT, Wis. — A year ago, Saint Mary's University's Todd Yankowski set a school record in the heptathlon, totaling 4,140 points in placing third at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.

Friday evening, the Cardinals' Rob Friendt (Ogden, Utah) shattered Yankowski's year-old mark in impressive fashion, posting a whopping 4,802 points in the seven-event competition at the Eastbay Multi Events.

Just how impressive was Friend'ts performance? Not only did he demolish Yankowski's school record by nearly 700 points, but he beat his next closest competitor Friday by 400 points — and the third-place finisher was a distant 800 points back.

Friendt actually broke three school marks on Friday, setting new standards in the high jump (6-2 3/4) and the long jump (22-11) en route to his record-setting heptathlon total.

"It was an awesome showing," said SMU coach Kirk Nauman, who also had the pleasure of watching Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) break her own mark the pentathlon, posting a first-place total of 3,306 points. "Ashley and Rob had phenomenal days — I think they turned a few heads out there today.

"Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come (Saturday, when the rest of the Cardinals take part in the Eastbay Invitational)."