SMU Track & Field

DES MOINES, Iowa — For Joe Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.), Chris Fisette (Elmhurst, Ill.), Josiah Ryks (Austin, Minn.) and Dan Gerber (Belvidere, Ill.), the 4x200 relay at the Drake Relays Friday was their do-over.

And the Cardinal foursome made the most of their second chance.

After placing a distant 25th in their first race at the Drake Relays — clocking a time of 43.48 in the 4x100 — the four put it all together in the 4x200, shattering the school record en route to a 10th-place finish with a time of 1:29.87.

Gerber, Fisette and Ryks picked up right where they left off on Saturday, teaming with Jon Vallez (Eagan, Minn.) to rewrite the seven-year-old school record in the sprint medley relay, breaking the tape in 3:36.43.

Emily Bartusek (Albert Lea, Minn.), Kelly Tanke (La Crosse, Wis.), Val Koch (Janesville, Wis.) and Teri Heinzen (Marshfield, Wis.) also found themselves improving the second time around, posting a 25th-place time of 50.56 in the 4x100, then jumping up to 12th in the 4x200, stopping the clock in 1:46.07.

Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) was the Cardinals' lone individual qualifier at the Drake Relays, and the Cardinal senior did SMU proud, uncorking a toss of 40.85 meters in the javelin to place 20th.

It was actually a busy weekend for Luehmann, who went from Des Moines, Iowa, to St. Peter, Minn., where she won the discus competition at the Drake Alternative Saturday, posting a school-record toss of 40.62 meters. Amanda Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.) chipped in a second-place throw of 12.94 in the shot put to highlight SMU's performances at the Drake Alternative.

"It was a good weekend all the way around," said SMU coach Kirk Nauman. "The guys did a great job (at Drake) — especially considering the fact that this was their first time there. I thought everyone that competed (at Drake) did a nice job, hopefully they've set themselves up for bigger and better things in the future."