The St. Ambrose track and field teams kicked their seasons off on the right foot this Saturday, when they hosted the Frigid Bee Invite in Davenport, Iowa. The SAU men's and women's teams won their respective meets, competing against Judson, Viterbo and Trinity Christian. The SAU men won their meet with a total of 182 points, and the women won their meet with a total of 166 points.

The St. Ambrose women's track team picked up right where they left off last year, with multiple runners finding the podium across the events. St. Ambrose sophomore Madalyn Oltman blitzed to a sixth-place finish in the 60m dash (9.00). Senior Lani Hillard took home a bronze medal for her performance in the 200m dash (27.91), followed closely by her junior teammate Leah Rose in fifth place (28.68).

Some familiar faces from the cross country team made a strong appearance at the Frigid Bee Invite, with St. Ambrose's Claire Duncan taking home the silver medal in the 800m run (2:36.62). Megan Grady and Michaela Pieroni went 1-2 yet again, only this time it was on the oval in the 3000m run. Grady won the event with a time of 10:48.50 and Pieroni finished second with a time of 10:49.88. Grady's time was the fourth-fastest time in the 3000m run at the NAIA level, which earned her CCAC Track Athlete of the Week honors.

St. Ambrose's Leah Rose and Hana Hart both found the podium for their performances in the 60m hurdles. Hart finished in third place (11.00) and Rose won the event with the only sub-10 second performance in the event (9.90).

The St. Ambrose women finished in the top-2 for both relays, with Madalyn Oltman, Anna Possehl, MacKenzie Clary and Alexis Oliver taking second in the 4x200m relay, and Megan Jansett, Jadie Knecht, Brooke Hass and Hana Hart placing first in the 4x400m relay.

The SAU women continued their success with the field events. Abby Camp continued to build on her award-winning season a year ago with a strong showing at the Frigid Bee Invite. Camp won the women's triple jump event with a 10.44m jump, while also taking third in the women's long jump (5.12m).

Hillard also started her 2021 field campaign off strong, with second place finishes in both the long jump (5.27m) and the triple jump (9.86m).

St. Ambrose's Mickey Hayes (1.50m), Brooke Hass (1.45m) and Allisyn Blaser (1.40m) went second, third and fourth, respectively in the women's high jump, while Alissa DeShane took second in the women's pole vault (3.05m).

Sarah Smith took home the bronze medal for her performance in the women's shot put event (9.66m), and Anna Dunne finished in fifth place in the women's weight throw with a throw of 10.14m.

It was more of the same for the St. Ambrose men's track team, with multiple runners putting forth great performances at the Frigid Bee Invite. Sophomore sensation Will Reemtsma took the gold in two events. Reemtsma raced to a first place finish in both the 200m dash (23.20) and the 60m hurdles (8.82).

Will Reynolds also took home some gold hardware following a photo finish win in the 60m dash. Reynolds' time of 7.102 edged out Viterbo's Maurice Savage (7.110) by eight-thousandths of a second. Reynolds also finished in second in the 200m dash (23.57), just behind his teammate Reemtsma.

Also finding the podium in the 60m dash was St. Ambrose's Andrew Olenek, who finished in third place with a time of 7.26.

The 400m dash was a strong event for the Bees, with Jackson Stoos (52.86) taking first place, Maxwell Stoos (57.68) taking third place, and Benny Melow (1:02.09) taking fourth place.

Kale Cartee (2:05.78), Elijah Boesch (2:08.54) and Tommy Ashby (2:11.49), all members of the 2020 St. Ambrose men's cross country team, put forth great efforts in the 800m run. Cartee's time was good enough for third place.

Matt Jung transitioned his dominance from the cross country course to the track oval, with a resounding win in the 3000m run. Jung's time of 9:13.57 took first place by over 24 seconds. St. Ambrose's Simon Hagen also found the podium in the 3000m run, finishing in third place with a time of 10:24.05.

SAU's Lucas Creek (4:42.54) and Danny Parr (5:13.92), also members of the cross country team, ran hard in the 1 mile run. Creek finished in third place and Parr finished in sixth place.

The SAU men mirrored the women's success in the relay events, with Cody Thole, Maxwell Stoos, Samuel Rush and Jacob Mertes placing second in the 4x200m relay, and Jackson Stoos, Ben Wilson, Kyle Sellers and Keegan Norris placing first in the 4x400m relay.

The SAU men found great success in the field events, with senior Keegan Norris translating his track success to the jumping events. Norris finished in second in both the long jump (5.92m) and the triple jump (12.46m).

Samuel Rush and Jacob Rossmiller both found the podium in the men's pole vault. Rush's jump of 3.80m secured second place while Rossmiller's jump of 3.50m took third place.

St. Ambrose had a strong showing in the high jump as well, with three jumpers taking second, third and fourth. Justin Griser (1.81m) took second, Cody Thole (1.76m) in third and Alec Seifert (x1.66m) in fourth.

SAU's Jacob White took the gold in the men's weight throw with a mark of 13.83m, with his teammate Geoff Murphy finishing in third with a mark of 13.05m.

Sophomore standout Mick Saloninas continued his success from last season. Saloninas (14.73m) was the top collegiate performer in the shot put, placing second out of 10 at the meet. Saloninas' performance at the Frigid Bee Invite earned him CCAC Field Athlete of the Week honors. His mark is also the 12th-best in the NAIA this season.

The St. Ambrose men's and women's track and field teams will compete again this Friday when they host the SAU opener in Davenport, Iowa, at the St. Ambrose Wellness and Recreation center. No spectators will be allowed.