The St. Ambrose outdoor track & field teams took on a jam-packed weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Fighting Bees visited the Viking Classic hosted by Grand View University on April 23, while a couple of athletes made their way over to the Blue Oval at Drake University to take part in the Drake Relays throughout the weekend.

Brothers Jack Reemtsma and Will Reemtsma had an extremely busy weekend at the Drake Relays, with both runners taking on the 400m hurdles, 4x100, 4x400, and 4x110 shuttle hurdle. Jack bolted to a sixth-place overall finish in the 400m hurdles (53.68), while Will took the bronze in the event (52.83).

The 4x100 relay, consisting of Andrew Olenek, Marshaun Zachary, and both Reemtsma brothers, finished 21st in the preliminaries (43.16).

Both Reemtsma's, Kyle Sellers, and Jonny Swarm ran the 4x400 at the blue oval. This squad won their heat and ran their fastest time of the season (3:20.64), placing 19th in the preliminaries.

Will, Jack, Cody Thole and Justin Griser took on the shuttle hurdle relay and placed fourth overall (65.61). This was Griser's first collegiate hurdle race, and it came on one of the biggest stages in college track.

Sam Rush competed in the men's pole vault at the Drake Relays. Rush cleared 4.40m to place eighth-overall, his new personal best.

Jackson Callahan threw the javelin in Des Moines. Callahan hit a 52.33 mark on his best throw of the day, good enough for fifth-place overall.

Mick Saloninas and Josh Mathis both continued on their monster 2021 seasons. Saloninas broke the school record once again with a 16.57m throw, breaking Mathis' record set two weeks prior and placing second. Mathis threw an even 16.00 meters, placing fourth overall at the Drake Relays.

Megan Jansett took on the 400m dash at the Drake Relays, running to a time of 60.31 and placing 21st overall.

Leah Rose competed in her trademark event at the blue oval, the 100m hurdles. Rose unfortuantely nicked a hurdle midway through the race, but still hustled hard to the finish, placing 16th with a time of 17.57.

The St. Ambrose track & field team in its entirety took on the Viking Classic on April 23, hosted by Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. The Fighting Bees performed extremely well at the meet, with one athlete setting a school record.

Women's Meet

Jadie Knecht finished fifth-overall in the women's 100m dash (13.33), followed by Anna Possehl in eighth-place (14.23) and Alexis Oliver in 14th (15.51). These three then took on the 200m dash along with teammates Jansett and MacKenzie Clary. Jansett took the gold with a time of 27.10. Knecht placed eighth (28.09), Clary took 12th (28.93), Possehl finished 24th (30.81) and Oliver finished 27th (32.18).

Freshman runner Anna Pierce placed in the women's 400m dash, taking eighth-place with a time of 1:07.94. Senior Carrington Curphy competed in the 800m run, crossing the line in 16th with a time of 2:50.81.

The three Bees that competed in the NAIA cross country nationals earlier this month all had a great meet. Emma Duncan cracked the top-five in the 1500m run, placing fifth with a time of 5:08.95. Michaela Pieroni and Megan Grady went 1-2 in the women's 10k; Pieroni took the gold (37:32.29) and Grady took the silver (38:51.80). Pieroni's time is a new St. Ambrose record and met the NAIA B mark status.

Leah Rose bounced back from the Drake Relays, blitzing to a gold medal-finish in the 100m hurdles (15.54). Rose beat out the competition by over half of a second. Hana Hart took on the other hurdle event, winning the bronze in the 400m hurdles (1:08.67).

Oliver, Poseehl, Clary and Liliana Olsen carried the baton for the Bees in the 4x100 relay, finishing second with a time of 56.24.

Mickey Hayes took silver in the high jump for clearing 1.54m mark. Hart also compete in the high jump, clearing 1.39m and placing ninth. Alissa DeShane, Tara Ryan and Kelsey Weatherford all placed in the women's pole vault. DeShane won bronze for clearing 3.10m, Ryan placed seventh (2.65m) and Weatherford placed eighth (2.35m). DeShane also threw the javelin for the Bees, placing seventh overall (27.29m) along with Brooke Hass who placed 10th (22.47m).

St. Ambrose split the podium in the women's long jump. Former CCAC field athlete of the year Abby Camp took the gold with a 5.23m jump while Olsen took bronze with a 4.80m jump, just edging out a Grand View jumper by .02m to find the podium.

Annah Miller continued her strong freshman campaign at the Viking Classic, placing sixth in the shot put (11.49m) and winning gold in the discus (39.75m). Sarah Smith finished 17th in the shot put (9.81m). Jessica Hemm placed 12th (30.61m), Felica McCroy finished 19th (26.69m) and Anna Dunne placed 21st (26.61m) in the discus. Dunne and McCroy also threw the hammer for the Bees, placing 14th (34.31m) and 24th (22.34m), respectively.

Men's Meet

The Fighting Bees got off to a great start in the men's meet. Olenek and Zachary both finished in the top-eight in the men's 100m dash, with Olenek just beating out Zachary for fifth-place (11.19), while Zachary took sixth (11.38). They were joined by their sophomore teammate Cade Bianchi, who finished 13th with a time of 11.82. These three also took on the 200m dash along with Will Reemtsma and Jackson Stoos. Reemtsma placed seventh (22.83), Olenek took ninth (23.00), Zachary finished 13th (23.74), Stoos placed 16th (24.00) and Bianchi placed 25th (25.13).

Jack Reemtsma carried his success from the Drake Relays into the Viking Classic, winning the men's 400m dash with a time of 48.49, the only sub-49 time in the event. Sellers cracked the top-five with a fifth-place finish (50.62). Swarm and Stoos finished back-to-back in the 400m dash, with Swam finishing eighth (51.46) and Stoos finishing ninth (52.21). Davea Davis finished 21st (54.92) and Maxwell Stoos finished 28th (58.01).

The Reemtsma brothers were absolutely zooming in the 110 meter hurdles. Jack got the better of the sibling rivalry this time around, taking the gold with a time of 15.01, while Will had to settle for silver with a 15.41. The Reemtsma's were the only two sub-16 times in the event. Thole continued the gold medal success in the hurdle events for the Bees, winning the 400m hurdles with a time of 56.38.

Aaron Cox finished 25th in the 800m run with a time of 2:17.04. St. Ambrose dominated the men's distance events. Kale Cartee won bronze in the 1500m run with a time of 4:14.06, with Tommy Ashby just behind in fifth (4:19.57). Matt Jung won the men's 5k with a 15:31.99. Lucas Creek finished third among collegiate competition in the 5k with a time of 16:10.02, while Chris Borschnack placed eighth (17:02.75) and Danny Parr took 11th among collegiate competition. Simon Hagen and Elijah Boesch had great performances in the 3000m steeplechase, placing seventh (11:12.02) and eighth (11:16.12), respectively.

St. Ambrose dominated the pole vault, with three Bees finishing in the top-four. Jacob Mertes took silver (3.35m), Maxwell Stoos won bronze (3.05m) and Harrison Shanklin placed fourth (2.90m). Connor Dertz placed fourth-overall in the high jump for clearing 1.75m. Dertz also performed well in the long jump, placing ninth in with 5.88m jump. Dertz was joined by Justin Wright in the long jump, who jumped to fifth place with a 6.28m mark. Wright wasn't done yet, finding the podium with a bronze medal finish in the triple jump (13.23m).

Shanklin placed sixth (38.45m), Bryce Peacher took eighth (35.23m) and Fabian Barth-Alonzo finished 15th in the javelin throw. Jonah Wilson was the top thrower for the Bees in the shot put, placing fourth with a 14.22m throw. Alec Seifert placed fifth (14.11m), Geoff Murphy placed 11th (12.51m), Peacher placed 12th (12.10m) and Barth-Alonzo placed 18th (9.68m).

Mathis and Saloninas took part in the discus at the Viking Classic. Mathis won silver with a 45.75m throw and Saloninas placed sixth with a 43.88m throw. Murphy placed fourth (45.21m), Wilson placed seventh (43.75m), Hunter Kasap placed 11th (39.52m), Seifert placed 12th (39.09m), Peacher placed 17th (35.77m), Payton Woods placed 21st (33.55m), and Barth-Alonzo placed 25th (30.50m). Murphy, Kasap, and Woods all competed in the hammer throw. Murphy took fourth (44.30m), Kasap placed 10th (38.99m) and Woods took 13th (37.13m).

The St. Ambrose track & field teams will now focus on the upcoming ONU Invitational on May 1 in Bourbonnais, Ill.