It has been an exciting week between the bluffs on the campus of Saint Mary’s. In the athletics world, there has been a lot of noise on campus.
TRACK SENDS ONE TO NATIONALS
For the first time in six years,the Saint Mary’s track and field program is sending a Cardinal to the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships. 2:10.58 is the nationals bound mark for sophomore Mya Slavin. That time punched her ticket to nationals, hosted by UW-La Crosse, this Friday, May 22.
The St. Charles native is the first Cardinal since Anna Swanson, in 2022, to qualify for nationals. Slavin will be competing in the 800-meter race, a race that she placed first in at the conference championships, on the national stage.
“Nationals has been something my coach and I talked about all year, but for the longest time it felt more like a dream than something that could actually happen, especially in track,” said Slavin. “To finally make it there is really exciting, and I think it’s also rewarding because it shows that all the work I’ve put in this year has meant something.
Slavin, normally the star in the longer distance races, switched to the 800-meter mid-season and has been a star in both realms.
Slavin just slipped in the the top 22 mark as the number 21 qualifier for the event. It does not matter being one of the final qualifiers, the only thing that matters is that she is in, and now it is time to prove herself.
“I think the biggest thing for me is that I’m finally at a point in the running where I feel confident competing at the national level instead of intimidated by it, so honestly this couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“I knew after last week that I wasn’t ready for my season to be done.”
Slavin will compete on Friday, May 22 at 3:20 p.m. CT for the first round. If she is to make it as one of the top finishers on Friday, she will move onto championship Saturday and is set to compete at 2:50 p.m. CT for a title.
She should have a wonderful Cardinal crowd to cheer her on as she has competed at the UW-La Crosse venue before and fans can make the short 45-minute drive to watch her run!
“I’m also really proud to be able to represent Saint Mary’s on a stage like nationals.”
SOFTBALL SURVIVES REGIONALS: SET TO HOST SUPER REGIONALS
For the second consecutive season and the second time in program history, the Saint Mary’s softball team (40-7) is set to host Simpson College on Thursday, May 21 and Friday, May 22 for Super Regionals.
The Cardinals made it out of Regionals this past weekend on top, having forced a game seven with Calvin University. The team opened the weekend taking down UW-Stevens Point 5-1, they fell to the Calvin Knights early Friday morning in a back and fourth thriller, 8-6, which pushed the Cardinals to an elimination game later that evening.
With their backs against the wall, the Cardinals did not want their season to end. They dominated Bethany Lutheran 9-0 to keep the dream alive and set up a rematch to the Knights Saturday morning.
The Cardinals must have gotten good rest as they went on to sweep the Knights in two games on Saturday to punch their ticket to Super Regionals and keep the dream alive to go for a national championship.
It is a rematch of the 2025 NCAA Regional finals, where the Cardinals are ready to face the Storm in the Super Regionals starting this Thursday, May 21.
The two-day, three-game super regional to determine who will advance to the College World Series with a single game scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Then the Storm and the Cardinals will face-off Friday at 1:00 p.m with the if-necessary game at 3:30 p.m. The winner of the super regionals punches their ticket to Salem, Virginia for the eight-team College World Series Thursday, May 28 – Wednesday, June 3.
Simpson earned its spot in the supers after knocking off Saint Benedict in a dramatic seventh-inning comeback in the regional final 3-2 on Saturday afternoon. The trip to the supers marks the first appearance for the Storm in program history and the deepest postseason since the 1999 National Championship season.
If the Cardinals win, it would be back-to-back trips to the College World Series as they are set to avenge their early exit last season.
It is the final home game of the 2025-26 school year and we are looking forward to filling the campus with the Cardinal community behind us.
