Coming off an extremely busy week at the Drake Relays and Viking Classic, the St. Ambrose men's and women's track & field teams returned to action on May 1 at the ONU Invitational. The event hosted by Olivet Nazarene was the fourth meet that the Bees have competed in during the 2021 outdoor season.

Women's Meet

The women's team came to compete, winning multiple medals across both the field and track events, with one athlete earning their spot at the national meet.

Freshman thrower Annah Miller had a monster day at the ONU Invite, taking gold in the discus throw and placing fifth in the shot put. Miller's first discus throw of the day hit a mark of 42.49m, hitting the NAIA B mark and would have won the meet. However, Miller tossed a 42.95m mark on her third throw to secure the gold medal. Miller landed in the top-five in the shot put with an 11.58m throw.

Miller's 42.49m discus throw is the 24th best mark in the NAIA, punching her ticket to the national event in late May.

Joining Miller in the discus event was Felica McCroy and fellow freshman Taylor Smith. McCroy finished in 11th place with a 27.12m throw, while Smith placed 20th with a 18.64m throw. McCroy also took on the hammer throw for the Bees, placing 15th with a 27.20m toss. Sarah Smith and Taylor Smith both competed in the shot put alongside Miller, placing 10th (9.60m) and 14th (7.69), respectively.

Alissa DeShane won another gold medal for the Bees in the trowing events, taking down the javelin throw with a meet-best 35.86m throw. DeShane threw the javelin alongside Brooke Hass in eighth-place (29.03m), Anna Dunne in eleventh (23.08m) and Kelsey Weatherford in 15th (14.45m).

Mickey Hayes just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the high jump (1.49m), and Hass placed ninth for clearing the 1.39m bar. Tara Ryan climbed over 2.50m to place 12th in the pole vault.

Abby Camp collected two more medals for the Bees in the field events, winning silver the long jump and bronze in the triple jump. Camp launched to a 5.13 mark in the long jump, just .08m behind Missouri Baptist's Maegan Saleh in first. Camp hit a 10.48m mark in the triple jump to place third. Lilliana Olsen placed ninth in the long jump, hitting a 4.50m mark.

Over on the oval, Anna Possehl, Alexis Oliver and Taylor Smith got things started for the Bees in the 100m dash. Possehl finished in 25th (14.73), Oliver took 28th (15.56) and Smith crossed the finish line 30th (17.70). Oliver and Possehl also took on the 200m dash for the Bees alongside Leah Rose, Jadie Knecht and MacKenzie Clary. Rose cracked the top-10 with a ninth-place finish (27.71), Knecht finished two spots behind in eleventh (27.90), Clary tied for 30th with an Olivet Nazarene runner with a time of 30.30, Oliver finished 36th (32.14) and Possehl finished 38th (32.83). 

Rose continued her day with a great run in the 100m hurdles, placing first among collegiate competition with a time of 16.37. Hana Hart took the top-spot in the other hurdle event, winning the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:10.22.

Megan Jansett blitzed to a silver-medal finish in the 400m dash, crossing the finish line at 59.71, a mere 0.35 seconds behind first place. Anna Pierce placed 15th in the 400m with a time of 1:09.01.

Emma Duncan barely missed the top-10 in the 800m run, finishing 11th with a time of 2:30.98. Emma's twin sister Claire Duncan was the next Bee to cross the finish in the 800m, taking 24th-place (2:47.62). Carrington Curphy placed 29th (2:58.97) and Kylie Mercier placed 31st (3:04.50).

The dynamic duo Megan Grady and Michaela Pieroni finished back-to-back in the 1500m run. Grady took fourth-place with a time of 5:02.24, while Pieroni took fifth with a time of 5:05.15.

St. Ambrose captured medals both relays at the ONU Invitational. Knecht, Possehl, Clary and Olsen carred the baton for the Bees in the 4x100, winning bronze with a time of 51.92. The 4x400 team comprised of Jansett, Emma Duncan, Knecht and Clary won silver in a very tight race with a time of 4:18.28.

Men's Meet

The St. Ambrose men's team received the #20 ranking in national poll, jumping 17 spots last week to enter the top-20 for the first time since the 2017 season. The men confirmed their ranking at the ONU Invitational, putting forth incredible efforts across the entire meet, as well as another broken record in the shot put.

The powerhouse duo Josh Mathis and Mick Saloninas dominated another meet, sharing two-thirds of the podium in the shot put. Mathis became the first Bee to ever throw the shot put over 17 meters, unloading a 17.04m throw to secure the silver medal. Saloninas took home the bronze medal with a 15.96m throw. Mathis and Saloninas shared the podium with the top-thrower in the country, Olivet Nazarene's Bryce Vollrath.

Mathis' school-record throw lands him in the number-six spot in the country for the shot put. Saloninas is just outside of the top-ten, with his 16.57m throw from the Drake Relays as the 11th-best mark in the country.

Mathis and Saloninas were joined by Alec Seifert and Geoff Murphy in the top-10 in the shot put at the ONU Invitational, with Seifert placing sixth (14.31m) and Murphy taking ninth (13.31m). Bryce Peacher placed 14th (12.21m) and Fabian Barth-Alonzo placed 21st (10.76m).

In the discus throw, Mathis dominated yet again. Mathis beat out Vollrath with a 49.87m throw to win the event and crack the top-10 for national rankings, placing ninth on the leaderboard. Murphy barely missed the podium in fourth-place (47.31m), with freshman Jonah Wilson just behind in fifth (46.50m). Saloninas finished in 12th-place (39.59m), Hunter Kasap in 15th (37.63m), Peacher in 16th (37.15m), Seifert in 17th (37.00m), Payton Woods in 22nd (32.94m) and Barth-Alonzo in 24th (29.22m).

Jacob White led the Bees in the hammer throw, placing eighth with a 45.84m. Murphy was right behind him in ninth (44.46m). Woods finished in 11th (41.12m) and Kasap finished in 15th (36.89m). Jackson Callahan continued his strong senior campaign with a silver medal finish in the javelin throw, hitting a mark of 52.96m. Harrison Shanklin placed seventh (42.47m), Seifert placed 10th (37.87m) and Peacher finished in 11th (37.18m).

Freshman Connor Dertz was the lone Bee in the high jump, placing eighth for clearing the 1.80m mark. In the pole vault, Jacob Rossmiller and Jacob Mertes finished in eighth and ninth place, respectively, for clearing the 3.65m height. Quantrell Polk placed 14th in the long jump (5.94m), with Keegan Norris right behind in 15th (5.92m). Dertz finished in 22nd in the long jump with a 5.53m jump. Norris launched to sixth-place finish in the triple jump, hitting a 12.85m mark. Polk placed 15th in the triple jump (11.81m).

Andrew Olenek got things started for the Bees on the track with a top-10 finish in the 100m dash, placing 10th with a time of 11.70. Cade Bianchi crossed the finish line in 16th at 12.13. These same two Bees took on the 200m dash alongside Samuel Rush; Olenek in 12th (23.84), Bianchi in 21st (24.49) and Rush in 38th (25.25).

Sophomore sprinter Will Reemtsma continued his fantastic year with a gold medal in the 400m finals, barely edging out Lincoln's Josiah Neal by .02 seconds with a 49.87. Jackson Stoos cracked the top-five in the same event with a fifth-place finish (52.96).

Kyle Sellers added another top-five finish for the Bees, placing fifth in the 800m run with a time of 2:00.08. Kale Cartee was two spots behind with a 2:01.03 in seventh-place. Jonny Swam took 15th (2:04.54), Tommy Ashby placed 18th (2:04.94) and Aaron Cox finished in 27th (2:16.54). Matt Jung cracked the top-10 in the 1500m run, placing eighth with a time of 4:13.94. Lucas Creek finished 15th (4:18.77), Chris Borschnack finished 29th (4:38.49) and Danny Parr finished 34th (5:06.71).

Jack Reemtsma and Cody Thole split two-thirds of the podium in the 400m hurdles, with Reemtsma taking down the event by a three-second margin with a 54.52. Thole took home the bronze with a time of 59.21.

The St. Ambrose men's team dominated the relays at the ONU Invitational. The 4x100 relay, ran by both Reemtsma brtohers, Olenek and Marshaun Zachary, brought home the gold in razor-tight race with Olivet Nazarene. The 4x400 team, ran by both Reemtsma's, Sellers and Swarm, won the silver medal, falling a mere 2.50 seconds behind Olivet Nazarene.

With the ONU Invitational being the last regular season meet for the Fighting Bees, the St. Ambrose track & field teams will turn their attention to the postseason. The CCAC Outdoor Championships begin on May 7 in Joliet, Ill.