A solid team effort netted the Bees a season-opening victory at Emeis Park.

Lincoln College's Kennedy Korir took home the individual gold in 16:11, but the next seven finishers were all SAU. 

Transfer Nolan Rudd (SR/Greendale, Wis.) made his debut winning silver in 16:21, while 3-time NAIA XC National Qualifier Matt Jung (SR/Tinley Park, Ill.) was third in 16:47, the led a Bees brigade that had the scoring 5 all within 50 seconds of each other.

Freshman Luke Benes (FR/Chicago, Ill.) was the Bees No. 3 runner, finishing fourth in 16:53. A national qualifier last season as a freshman, Lucas Creek (SO/Mapleton, Ill.) was fifth in 17:00 while George Barton (JR/Dubuque, Iowa) rounded out the Bees top 5 in 17:11. Kale Cartee (SO/Peosta, Iowa) (7th, 17:25) and Will Dowda (FR/Eldridge, Iowa) (8th, 17:42) rounded out the SAU varsity finishers. 

The Bees won the meet with 20 points, well ahead of CCAC foe Lincoln College who was second in 51, Scott Community College (77) and Sauk Valley Community College (95).

It wasn't just the Bees top 7 that dominated though, Chris Borschnack (SR/Kankakee, Ill.) was 10th (18:10) and freshman Noah Maske (FR/Hampton, Iowa) also medaled (top 15) with a 12th place finish (18:28). Senior Danny Parr (SR/Streator, Ill.) was 17th in 19:12, while Tommy Ashby (SO/Bettendorf, Iowa) was right behind in 19:20 to round out the Bees performances.

"There were a lot of really exciting things to take away from today," SAU head coach Beth Jansen said. "This is a group that bought in since the beginning of summer training and today they got their first taste of success. They're starting to see that hard work pay off and we can really build off of that. 

"It was a great mix of newcomers, returners and veterans pushing each other today and they'll continue to push each other in practice and racing the rest of the way."

The Bees will be back in action next Saturday at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf as they host the annual Fighting Bee Invite.