The St. Ambrose throwers led the way at the Augustana Meet of Champions Friday and Saturday in Rock Island, Ill. The Bee men finished fifth and the women were 11th in an event featuring 27 teams.

Mick Saloninas led a big SAU charge in the men's throws. He won the shot put with a mark of 15.85 meters and was runner-up in the discus with a throw of 51.99 meters. Three other Bees placed inside the top eight in the shot put. Jonah Wilson (15.57m) was second, Alec Seifert (14.68m) was fifth and Bryce Peacher (13.75m) was eighth. Four other Bees were inside the top 15 in the discus. Wilson hit the B standard with a fifth-place effort of 48.61 meters. That is the third-best mark in the CCAC this season and 19th in the NAIA. Peacher (43.27m) placed 10th, Hunter Kasap (41.75m) was 13th and Seifert (41.05m) took 14th.

Payton Woods was fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 52.49 meters. Kasap was eighth at 49.01 meters. Both marks were season bests and the top two marks in the conference. Simon Holland added a third-place throw of 43.62 meters in the javelin.

Justin Bowers had a CCAC-leading 5204 points to place third in the decathlon. Dominic Neely was 11th. Joshua Mottet took sixth in the pole vault with a jump of 4.48 meters. Keion Lewis (6.15m) and David Arney (5.94m) were 12th and 15th, respectively, in the long jump.

On the track, Will Reemtsma was runner-up in the 400-meter dash. He finished in 48.70 seconds. Reemtsma was also 10th in the 200-meter dash in 22.12 seconds. Luke Benes finished 14th in the 1500-meter run in 4:13.11. Austin Kalar took 15th in the 100-meter dash in 10.93 seconds. The 4x400-meter relay team of Chris Miserendino, Benes, Will Dowda and Jon Kaleka were 15th in 3:49.54.

For the women, Gabbi Butler was the champion in the 400-meter dash. Her winning time was 58.32 seconds. She also took 13th in the 200-meter dash in 25.47 seconds. Katie Lambrecht added a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:06.15. That time is the second-best in the CCAC.

Annah Miller earned a pair of third-place finishes. She improved her A standard with a conference-leading mark of 13.86 meters in the shot put. Miller's throw of 44.53 meters was also good for third in the discus.

Kate Surwillo totaled 2485 points to place eighth in the heptathlon. Lexie Johnson was eighth in the long jump with a leap of 5.20 meters. Lily Olsen was 10th in the long jump with a PR of 5.07 meters and took 14th in the triple jump with a mark of 10.15 meters. Ryleigh Warden was 10th in the pole vault with a mark of 3.28 meters. Madi Blumhoff recorded a distance of 40.97 meters to place 13th in the hammer throw.

Megan Jansett posted the top time in the CCAC with her 11th-place showing in the 800-meter run in 2:24.00. Rileigh Fortune also had a conference-best time with her effort of 13:33.48 placing 15th in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Adeline Smith, Kyleigh Foster, Rylee McCrery and Jayne Eilderts grabbed a 10th-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in 4:58.66.

St. Ambrose will compete in the Drake Relays beginning next Thursday.