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SMU at UNI Invite Saturday, April 8 |
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Cardinals break 4 more records, add another provisional qualifier
in putting together solid performance at U. of Northern Iowa Invite
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Kirk Nauman has seen his team break more than its fair share of records during his two-plus seasons as the Saint Mary's University track and field head coach.
So the fact that his Cardinals shattered four more school records Saturday afternoon at the University of Northern Iowa Invitational should not have come as a surprise to Nauman.
And it didn't.
The fact that his Cardinals broke a pair of records that hadn't been broken in more than seven years, however, did.
Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) broke SMU's eight-year-old discus record, while the men's 4x200 relay team of Dan Gerber (Belvidere, Ill.), Chris Fisette (Elmhurst, Ill.), Joe Holman (Suamico, Wis.) and Joe Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.) smashed the school's seven-year-old mark to highlight SMU's effort at the UNI Invite.
"It was another great day for us," said Nauman, noting that Amanda Weinmann's (Rochester, Minn.) effort in the shot put — a toss of 13.02 meters that provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships — nearly got lost in the shuffle. "The weather really cooperated and everyone did a nice job.
"This was a big meet — a lot of (NCAA) Division I schools, so it was nice to see us put up so many great performances against such top-notch competition."
Luehmann posted a fourth-place finish with her school record-setting toss of 40.11 in the discus, while Beth Cleveland (Wausau, Wis.) added a sixth-place showing in the hammer, setting a new school mark with a throw of 45.06 meters and the women's 4x200 relay team of Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.), Emily Bartusek (Albert Lea, Minn.), Kelly Tanke (La Crosse, Wis.) and Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn.) bettered the school record with a fourth-place time of 1:45.54.
Valk added a second-place effort in the 100 hurdles (15.28), while Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) was second in the 1,500 (4:44.77) and Roche (400, 58.86) and Megan Mason (Rochester, Minn. / high jump, 1.67 meters) added fifth-place efforts.
"It's nice to see us break some new school records," said Nauman, whose men's 4x200 clocked a time of 1:32.08 en route to its record-setting effort. "Hopefully we can just keep things going as we keep preparing for the (MIAC championships)."