Meet Results | GameDay Preview

LA CROSSE, Wis. — The field was one of the best the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota track and field teams had been up against all season.
 
And toeing the line against the best around brought out the best in the Cardinals' Morris Dennis.
 
Dennis—an NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships qualifier in the 400 a year ago—was in top form Friday evening at the Phil Esten Challenge, as the Cardinal sophomore outdueled the rest of the field in winning the 400 in a time of 48.22.
 
Dennis' effort—one of five top-10 showings for the Cardinals—helped the Saint Mary's men to a ninth-place finish in the 19-team field. The Cardinal women, meanwhile, got an eighth-place effort from Maria Missurelli in the pole vault en route to a 16^th-place team finish.
 
Jacob Hagen-Erickson—twice—Luis Avila, and Brandon Krogman joined Dennis as top-10 finishers, as Hagen-Erickson placed third in the long jump (6.56) and sixth in the triple jump (12.01m), while Avila was fifth in the long jump (6.27m) and Krogman chipped in an eighth in the 800, stopping the clock in 1:57.43.
 
Dennis and Krogman also teamed with James Davis and Andrew Alleman to shatter the school record in the 4x400 relay with a fifth-place time of 3:22.75.
 
Davis added an 11.29 in the 100, while other top Cardinal men's performances came from Desmond Steward in the 200 (23.80), Jase Pater in the 5,000 (17:04.80), Ross Kinderman in the javelin (43.33m) and discus (29.78), and Connor Nicholas in the hammer (34.56m) and discus (27.98).
 
Missurelli led the charge for the Saint Mary's women, clearing 3.35 meters in placing eighth in the pole vault.
 
Becca Dup chipped in a time of 27.27 in the 200 and added a leap of 4.95 meters in the long jump, while other top Saint Mary's women's showings came from Kynzie Smedsrud in the 100 hurdles (17.82), Clare Siska in the 400 hurdles (1:12.32), Allie Thiel in the 1,500 (5:13.72), Erika Thiel (20:43.62) and Paige Schernecker (21:01.65) in  the 5,000, Natalie King in the hammer (38.10m), Molly Abraham in the 400 (1:09.36) and Madeline Eichers in the shot put (10.04m) and discus (34.17m).
 
The Cardinals return home to the Saint Mary's Track and Field Complex next Saturday, hosting their final outdoor meet of the season, the Saint Mary's Open.