The St. Ambrose cross country teams headed to Bourbonnais, Ill. on Saturday to take on their conference rivals in the CCAC Championships, hosted by Olivet Nazarene University. The St. Ambrose women finished with 152 points to finish in sixth-place overall, while the men tallied 92 points to mirror their third-place finish from a year ago.

Emma Duncan led the way for the Fighting Bees in the women's 5k race, finishing with a time of 20:04 to place 21st. Not far behind was Jess Mendenhall in 27th place with a time of 20:34. Kylie Mercier crossed the finish line next for St. Ambrose, running a personal best 24:34 to finish in 45th. Julia Beltz and Morgan Miller rounded out the scoring for the Bees, crossing the finish line in 67th (23:27) and 69th (23:36).

Also running for the Bees at the CCAC Championships were freshmen Rileigh Fortune (24:33), Becca Neaterour (25:21), and Jayne Eilderts (26:44).

The St. Ambrose women ran to a total of 152 points, good enough for sixth place in the 10-team meet. No. 1-ranked St. Francis (Ill.) won the women's meet with a score of 17 points.

On the men's side, Nolan Rudd ran another great race to earn individual runner-up honors at the CCAC Championships. Rudd crossed the finish line at 25:18 to finish in second place. Matt Jung and George Barton finished 15th (26:43) and 16th (26:45), respectively, with Jung earning all-conference honors for his performance.

The St. Ambrose pack was not far behind. Dayton Hauger finished with a time of 28:04 to finish in 34th. Luke Benes finished out the scoring in 39th place (28:17), with Lucas Creek right behind in 40th place (28:21).

Also running for St. Ambrose at the CCAC Championships were Kale Cartee (28:45), Elijah Boesch (29:45), Noah Maske (29:31), Bryan Flentge (29:46), Chris Borschnack (29:47), Danny Parr (31:29) and Kevin Parr (29:42).

The St. Ambrose men tallied 92 points to place third at the CCAC Championships, the lowest etam score for the Bees isnce joining the CCAC. No. 1-ranked St. Francis (Ill.) were conference champions with 21 points and No. 19-ranked Olivet Nazarene finished second with 75 points.

Rudd and Jung qualified for nationals individually thanks to their performances at the CCAC Championships. Jung joins elite SAU company, becoming one of only five four-time national qualifiers in St. Ambrose program history.

The St. Ambrose cross country teams will await results from conference meets across the country to see if they will qualify for the NAIA Cross Country Nationals on Nov. 19.