MOORHEAD, Minn. — For Saint Mary's University's Rob Friendt (Ogden, Utah), the first day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference heptathlon competition was positioning day.

Fueled by school records in the high jump (6-3 1/4) and the long jump (23-1/4), while also tying a school mark in the 55 (6.8), Friendt was right in the thick of the race heading into Friday's final three events.

And by the time the SMU junior crossed the finish line in the 1,000,  Friendt once again had the rest of the field right where he wanted them — in his rearview mirror.

Friendt overcame a 12-point deficit heading into the final three events and won by 219 points. His total of 4,882 points sets an SMU school record and is the highest total at the MIAC championship meet for the event since the men's event was changed from the pentathlon to the heptathlon last season.

Friendt joins fellow Cardinal teammate Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) as conference multi-event champions. Dingels won the pentathlon crown on Thursday, when the SMU senior broke the SMU and MIAC records with a total of 3,317 points.

The Cardinals' multi-event double marks the second straight season that both the pentathlon and heptathlon champions have come from the same school. Last year, St. Olaf's Evan Sundquist won the heptathlon and Becky Peterson won the pentathlon.

Friendt started the second day by finishing second in the 55 hurdles in a time of 8.09. That time netted him his highest point total of the day. He scored 826 points in the first race, and went from trailing Sundquist by 12 points to leading by a comfortable 140 points. He then came back with 769 points in the pole vault as he won the event with a height of 14-10.25. 

After the second of three events in the final day, he had a 339-point lead and needed to merely finish the 1,000 meters without falling down or being disqualified. Friendt paced himself to a 3:11.19 to finish ninth and come away with the overall victory.

Sundquist finished the event with 4,662 points, which is 81 points better than the score he won the event with last year.

"What a great, great was to kick off the (two-day) MIAC championships," said SMU coach Kirk Nauman, whose women's team is currently in third place after the first of the championship's two days with 53 points, while the men — fueled by Friendt's title — are eighth with 25 points. "The women had a phenomenal first day, I couldn't ask for any more from any of our athletes."

Dingels and Friendt weren't the only SMU athletes to bring home championships titles, as Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) won the 600 with a school-record time of 1:37.24. Speaking of school records, Friendt improved on his school marks in both the long jump (22-2 1/4) and the pole vault (14-11), placing second overall in both, while Emily Bartusek (Albert Lea, Min.) fourth-place 400 time of 60.10 was also the best in SMU history.

"We had so many great efforts," said Nauman, who watched Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) place third in the mile run (5:10.43), while Becky Baron (Rapid River, Mich. / 55, 7.52) and Beth Cleveland (Wausau, Wis. / weight throw, 45-1) added fourth-place efforts. "I'm very pleased with the way we competed — and I'm excited to see what the second day has in store for us."