The St. Ambrose track & field teams continued their hot start to the season when they hosted the SAU Opener in Davenport, Iowa. St. Ambrose competed against teams from four other schools: Waldorf, St. Francis (Ill.), Hawkeye CC and Lincoln College. Both teams from SAU won their respective meets, with the women taking down the defending CCAC champions St. Francis (Ill.) with a total of 147 points, and the men winning their meet with a total of 164 points.

The SAU women got off to a quick start, with senior Lani Hillard racing to a fourth-place finish in the 60m dash (8.32), and junior MacKenzie Clary scoring a point with her performance in the 200m dash (30.05).

Megan Jansett found the podium for her run in the 400m dash, coming in third place with her time of 1:02.38. Jansett was followed by her teammates Hana Hart in sixth-place (1:10.79) and Clary in seventh-place (x1:12.06).

St. Ambrose's Brooke Hass took silver in the 600m run with a time of 1:55.67, followed by senior Carrington Curphy in fourth-place (2:02.58).

The 800m run was a strong event for St. Ambrose, with three Bees finishing in the top-4. Emma Duncan placed second (2:29.27), Megan Grady took third (2:32.036) and Jessica Mendenhall finished fourth (x2:44.58).

Sophomore standout Michaela Pieroni took home a gold medal for her performance in the 1 mile run. Pieroni's time of 5:34.82 took first by over 33 seconds.

SAU's Leah Rose blitzed to a silver medal in the 60m hurdles (9.58), following first by only 3 hundredths of a second. Rose was followed by Hart, who placed sixth (11.34).

The women's track team finished the meet strong, with Lani Hillard, Jadie Knecht, Leah Rose and Megan Jansett winning the 4x400m relay.

St. Ambrose continued their success in the field events. St. Ambrose went 1-2 in the high jump, with Hass and Mickey Hayes both clearing 1.50m. Hass took the gold following the jump off. St. Ambrose's Liliana Olsen placed fifth with a jump of 1.40m.

The women's pole vault was the highlight of the meet for the Fighting Bees, with St. Ambrose conducting a complete sweep of the event. Alissa DeShane took gold with a meet-best jump of 3.08m. Tara Ryan and Kelsey Weatherford tied for second, both clearing the 2.33m mark.

Hillard translated her success from the track to the long jump pit, winning the event with a meet-best 5.30m jump. St. Ambrose's Madalyn Oltman placed fourth (4.52m) and Allisyn Blaser took eighth (x4.25m).

Olsen continued her strong jumping day, taking silver in the women's triple jump (9.49m). Freshman Annah Miller threw a meet-best 11.38m to win the women's shot put. Miller was accompanied by Sarah Smith (9.67m) and fellow freshman teammate Taylor Smith (x9.22m).

The SAU men copied the success of the women at the SAU Opener, out-performing their competition and taking down last year's CCAC runner-up St. Francis (Ill.). Kicking off the meet for the men was sophomore Andrew Olenek, securing two points for the Bees with a fifth-place finish in the 60m dash (7.31).

St. Ambrose standout Will Reemtsma continued his stellar sophomore campaign, adding more medals to his collection. Reemtsma bolted to a first-place finish in both the 400m dash (50.42) and was the top collegiate-runner in 60m hurdles (9.08). Reemtsma has now earned 10 points for St. Ambrose in the 60m hurdles in two consecutive meets.

Also running for the Bees in the 400m dash were freshmen Jonny Swarm (53.78) and Maxwell Stoos (x57.13). Swarm finished in fourth-place and Stoos took sixth-place.

Also scoring for St. Ambrose in the 60m dash was St. Ambrose's Keegan Norris, with his 12.54 time taking fourth-place and earning six points for his team.

The men's 600m dash was a strong event for St. Ambrose, with three Bees finishing in the top-4. Jackson Stoos took silver (1:27.33), trailing first-place by just six-tenths of a second. Cody Thole took bronze (1:27.73) and Tommy Ashby finished in fourth-place (x1:32.11).

The Fighting Bees dominated the distance events. St. Ambrose went 1-2 in the 1 mile run, with junior star Matt Jung taking gold (4:38.47) and freshman Kale Cartee taking silver (4:41.03), just three seconds behind his teammate.

Freshman Lucas Creek continued the dominance with a big win in the 3000m run. Creek's blazing time of 9:18.91 took first place by over 43 seconds. Also scoring for the Bees in the 3000m was senior Danny Parr (10:15.63), finishing in fourth-place and scoring four points.

St. Ambrose took second in the lone relay of the meet, falling five-hundredths of a second short in a photo finish with St. Francis (Ill.) in the 4x400m relay. Will Reemtsma, Jackson Stoos, Will Reynolds and Andrew Olenek carried the baton for the Fighting Bees.

The success continued in the field events for the Fighting Bees. Justin Griser found the podium with his third-place mark of 1.76m in the high jump. Alec Seifert placed sixth for two points with a 1.66m jump.

St. Ambrose dominated the pole vault once again, taking all three of the top spots. Samuel Rush won the event with a 4.12m mark, followed by Jacob Rossmiller's 3.53m mark in second place. Jacob Mertes took fourth overall and third against collegiate competitors (x3.23m).

Cody Thole finished in fourth-place in the men's long jump, hitting a mark of 6.09m.

St. Ambrose took two-thirds of the podium in the men's triple jump, with Keegan Norris taking silver with a 12.15m jump, and Quantrell Polk taking bronze with an 11.45m jump.

Mick Saloninas continued his hot start to the season, throwing the furthest distance amongst collegiate competitors in the shot put (15.23m). Freshman Jonah Wilson finished just behind Saloninas, throwing a mark of 14.84m. Also throwing shot put for the Bees were Alec Seifert (x14.70m), Bryce Peacher (x13.06m), Geoff Murphy (x12.76m), Hunter Kasap (x11.95m) and Payton Woods (x11.75m).

Senior Jacob White finished first amongst collegiate competitors in the weight throw with a mark of 14.11m, securing 10 points for his team. Also scoring for the Bees was Geoff Murphy. Murphy's 12.70m throw scored four points for St. Ambrose. Also throwing for the Bees was Payton Woods (x10.94m).

The St. Ambrose track and field teams will compete next on January 29, when they host the two-day Bumble Rumble at the St. Ambrose Wellness & Recreation Center in Davenport, Iowa. No spectators will be allowed.