Becki Meils finished ninth and Maitlyn Sanders was 12th to lead St. Ambrose to a runner-up finish at the CCAC Championships at Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood, Ill., Thursday and Friday.

It marked the program's best finish at a conference tournament since the 2010 team won the Midwest Collegiate Championship.

All five Bees finished in the top 18.

Meils earned her third top-10 finish of the year with a 175. She opened with a 91 Thursday before coming back with an 84 Friday. Sanders made a big second-round charge. After shooting an opening-round 96, she came back with an 81, the team's best round of the championships, to finish alone in 12th place with a 177.

The strong second rounds of Meils and Sanders helped St. Ambrose pull away from a crowded field to maintain second place. With Olivet Nazarene building a 25-shot lead Thursday on its way to a conference championship, it quickly became a battle for second place. St. Ambrose (359) held just a two-shot lead over both Holy Cross and St. Francis (Ill.) and a four-shot advantage over Saint Xavier after the first round. But none of those three teams could compete with SAU's second-round 346. The Bees finished with a 705 to easily outdistance third-place Holy Cross (732), fourth-place St. Francis (733) and fifth-place Saint Xavier (734).

Olivet Nazarene took the team title with a 665.

The other three Bees helped the team to a strong first day.

Sam Cramer shot SAU's best round Thursday, firing an 88. She followed that with a 90 to end in a tie for 13th with a 178. Abi Scheidecker had rounds of 89 and 91 to finish 15th with a 180. Nicole Gordus took 18th overall with a 183 total (91-92).

Saint Xavier's Hannah Kilbane was the individual medalist with a 157 (80-77).

St. Ambrose is scheduled to compete in the Viking Invitational at Highland Springs Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill., next Saturday and Sunday.