Men second, women fourth at CCAC Indoor Championships
The St. Ambrose men finished second and the women took fourth at the CCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships that SAU hosted on campus in the WRC Friday and Saturday. Among the strong team performances came several individual all-CCAC results.
The men finished with 201.5 points, finishing only behind Olivet Nazarene (268.50 points). St. Francis was a distant third with 98 points.
The Bee men had several standout performances, led by Mick Saloninas, who was named the Men's Field Athlete of the Championships. Saloninas led an SAU sweep of the shot put. He won with a throw of 16.95 meters. Jonah Wilson was runner-up with a throw of 16.43 meters and Alec Seifert placed third with a throw of 16.07 meters. Kyle Uhl was fifth.
In the weight throw, Payton Woods took conference gold with a throw of 16.97 meters. Hunter Kasap was second with a mark of 15.66 meters.
Yemi Ward broke his own school record and hit the NAIA B standard, winning the 60-meter dash in 6.91 seconds. Teammate Austin Kalar was third with a PR of 6.95 seconds.
Nolan Rudd claimed three top-three finishes to finish as the top scorer of the meet. He won the 3000-meter run in 8:35.40 and nearly took first in the 1-mile run. His time of 4:18.99 was just 0.07 seconds behind the champion. Rudd added a third-place effort in the 1000-meter run in 2:32.44.
Will Reemtsma was runner-up in both the 200-meter (22.28 seconds) and 400-meter (49.14 seconds) dashes. He was third in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.53 seconds.
Joshua Mottet (4.50 meters) and Nate Long (3.90 meters) finished second and third, respectively, in the pole vault. And Justin Bowers (4042 points) and Maxwell Stoos (3110) were second-third in the heptathlon. Isaac Mojica was fourth.
Chris Miserendino, Tommy Ashby, Nathan Boleyn and Bryan Flentge were second in the 4x800 meter relay in 8:15.92. The 4x400 meter relay team of Andrew Olenek, Reemtsma, Matt Acosta and Dominic Neely were third in 3:30.54.
Olivet Nazarene also won the women's title, claiming 242 team points. St. Francis was second with 151 points. Saint Xavier (140) finished third and St. Ambrose (124) took fourth.
Annah Miller earned Women's Field Athlete of the Championships after setting a CCAC Championship record in the shot put. Her winning throw of 14.36 meters set a new PR and broke the previous meet record of 14.22 meters set in 2019. It is the top throw in the conference this season and currently ranks fifth in the NAIA. Miller also placed third in the weight throw with a distance of 15.40 meters.
Lexie Johnson was the other Bee to win gold. She won the long jump with an effort of 5.63 meters to set a CCAC Championship mark. Along with breaking the previous record of 5.59 meters set in 2020, Johnson's PR also hit the A standard for Nationals.
Katie Lambrecht had a big day. She was runner-up in the high jump with a mark of 1.54 meters. She also placed third in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 9.54 seconds.
Alexis Andersen's jump of 10.88 meters was good for second place in the triple jump. Ryleigh Warden (3.27 meters) and Kate Surwillo (3.12 meters) finished second and third, respectively, in the pole vault. Gabbi Butler hit the NAIA A standard with a time of 57.49 seconds in the 400-meter dash, good for third place. Megan Jansett (1:39.95 in the 600-meter run) and Athena Nelson (pentathlon) also earned third-place finishes.
Megan Becker, Butler, Jansett and Lambrecht teamed for second in the 4x400 meter relay. They finished in 3:59.45 to hit the A standard.
The Bees will now prepare for the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Brookings, S.D., Mar. 2-4.
