St. Ambrose continued its challenging schedule by competing against several of the top teams in the country at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb., Saturday.

The men's 8K featured five nationally-ranked teams and four others receiving votes in the national poll. The women's 6K included six ranked teams and six others receiving votes.

The Bees more than held their own with the men finishing 11th and the women placing 14th. Both races included 27 total teams.

Luke Benes led the SAU men. He was 38th overall in 25:33.02. The next three Bees all finished within one second of each other. Luke Getz was 81st overall in 26:14.96, narrowly edging Will Dowda's time of 26:15.02. Right behind them was Chris Miserendino who crossed the line in 26:15.89.

St. Ambrose had two others finish inside 27 minutes. Ian Eller ended in 26:29.99 and Ross Willerth finished in 26:35.39. Noah Maske just missed the mark, finishing in 27:02.32.

Kale Cartee (27:22.95), Nathan Boleyn (27:49.25), Kevin Chaney (27:56.53), Gavin Stalzer (28:03.47), Bryan Flentge (28:11.68), Brennon Munch (29:25.15), Anthony Conard (31:17.09), Benett Boatright (32:29.91), Shyam Devasthali (32:39.95) and Donnie Ingram III (35:24.00) also ran for SAU.

The College of Idaho, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA, won the team title with No. 4 St. Mary (Kan.) coming in second.

The Bee women had two runners finish inside the top 50 and three total runners eclipsed the 24-minute mark.

Kaitlyn Knoche led the way. She took 33rd place in 23:00.10. Lexi Minard was on her heels, coming in 47th in 23:15.23. Adeline Smith was the third Bee, finishing in 23:59.02 to take 79th place.

Allison Hein ran in 24:29.37. Carlie Woolm had a finishing time of 25:38.89. Lauren Johnson (25:43.60), Loryn Heil (30:30.59) and Eileen Elenteny (31:52.95) also competed for St. Ambrose.

Three top-10 teams finished atop the team race - No. 3 St. Mary took first, No. 5 College of Idaho was second and No. 7 Dordt was third.

The Bees will now head to the postseason. SAU will host the CCAC Championships at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf, Iowa, on Nov. 9.