CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — With 13 school records in their first five indoor competitions, Saint Mary's University track and field coach Kirk Nauman figured his Cardinals would have to slow down sooner or later.

The Cardinals figure later — much later.

SMU shattered four more school records — including Aaron Raulin's (Madison, Wis.) effort in the 400 where he broke the school's five-year-old mark — at the NCAA Division I-dominated University of Northern Iowa Open.

"I really didn't know what to expect from this meet," said Nauman. "We've had such an outstanding start to the season that I kind of figured we might have a bit of a letdown here — especially considering most of the teams competing were Division I or II."

With four more school records in the books, however, SMU's effort was anything but a letdown.

Rob Friendt (Ogden, Utah) and Israel Burns (Brooklyn, N.Y.) broke their own marks in the pole vault (14-5 1/4) and the weight throw (46-6 3/4), respectively, while Friendt also set a new school mark in the 60 hurdles, where he clocked a time of 8.79. Raulin became the new Cardinal record-holder in the 400 when he stopped the clock in 52.57, and Dan Gerber (Belvidere, Ill.) just missed a school mark in the 200 with his time of 23.45.

"We had a number of very good performances, no question about that," said Nauman, noting that Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) was the top non-Division I competitor in the mile, where she placed second overall with a time of 5:17.33, while Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) was second in the 800 (2:20.27) and Terra Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.) was third in the 3,000 (11:11.81). "Not everyone was at their best today, but, again, that's to be expected after the start we've had.

"We've got two weeks until the MIAC Championships — and that's what really matters," continued Nauman. "Hopefully we can just keep this thing rolling right into those conference championships."