The St. Ambrose cross country team opened its season by placing fourth at the Twilight Invitational hosted by St. Francis at Channahon Park in Channahon, Ill., Friday evening. The men's race featured 11 complete teams while the women's included 10 teams.

Luke Benes was the top Bee finishing, coming in third in the men's 5K in 15:35.2. He was just a second behind the runner-up and finished a mere six seconds behind University of Chicago's John List, who won in 15:29.

The next five SAU runners finished within 17 seconds of each other, with three of them finishing inside the top 30.

Chris Miserendino needed 16:19.2 to come in 23rd overall. Ian Eller (16:23.2) and Kale Cartee (16:23.7) were 26th and 27th, respectively. Noah Maske placed 36th in 16:36.7 to round out the St. Ambrose top five.

The Bees had an average time of 16:56.6 to take fourth. Chicago won the men's race with Governors State taking second and St. Francis third.

Also running for the SAU men were Ross Willerth (16:47.6), Will Dowda (16:55.6), Nathan Boleyn (16:58.9), Gavin Stalzer (17:06.3), Kevin Chaney (17:18.9), Bryan Flentge (17:45.5), Brennon Munch (17:54.2), Jack Degner (18:19.8) and Shyam Devasthali (21:28.7).

The women also ran a 5K with Kaitlyn Knoche leading the Bees. She finished in a time of 19:30.0 to take 14th place overall. Adeline Smith also posted a sub-20-minute time, coming in 24th in 19:56.4.

The next three SAU runners finished back-to-back-to-back. Allison Hein was 34th in 21:17.7, Lauren Johnson placed 35th in 21:30.0 and Rileigh Fortune finished 36th in 21:35.5.

St. Ambrose took fourth and had an average time of 20:45.9. The University of Chicago, led by winner Nora Holmes (18:18.2), won the team title. St. Francis and Governors State rounded out the top three.

Alexis Havercamp (22:00.3) and Eileen Elenteny (25:04.3) also raced for the Bees.

St. Ambrose is off until Sept. 20 when the Bees will compete in the Midwest Classic hosted by Olivet Nazarene at the Aspen Ridge Golf Course in Bourbonnais, Ill.