The St. Ambrose track & field teams kicked off their indoor season this Saturday when they hosted the 11th annual Frigid Bee Invite in Davenport, Iowa. The men's and women's teams got off on the right foot, with both teams finishing as the runner-up for their respective meets.
Women's Meet
The meet opened up with some strong performances in the field events. Lily Olsen took home a medal in the triple jump, launching to a 10.19m mark to claim silver. Olivia Sobieszczyk cleared 1.35m in the high jump to tie for sixth and Tara Ryan cleared 2.75m to claim fourth overall in the pole vault. In the long jump, Madalyn Oltman jumped to a 5.06m mark to place fourth. Annah Miller placed fourth overall in the shot put, hitting an 11.99m throw on her third attempt.
The women's meet was highlighted by the trio of Megan Jansett, Katie Lambrecht, and Jadie Knecht, who all scored points in the 200m and 400 dashes. Jansett medaled in both races, taking home silver in the 400m (1:01.45) and bronze in the 200m (27.09). Lambrecht took fourth in the 400m (1:02.55) and fifth in the 200m (27.50), and Knecht placed sixth in the 400m (1:04.20) and eighth in the 200m (27.94). Paige Crippes added points in the 200m dash as well, placing seventh overall (27.69).
Leah Rose picked up right where she left off last year, dashing to a first-place finish in the 60m hurdles (9.42). Joining Rose in the 60m hurdle finals was Lauryn Bennett, who placed seventh (10.15).
St. Ambrose finished up their meet with a strong fourth-place finish in the 4x400m relay (4:31.72), run by Crippes, Faith Dillman, Hana Hart, and Anna Pierce.
The St. Ambrose women's team finished with 71.5 points to take runner-up at the Frigid Bee Invite. Grand View scored 132 points to win the meet.
Men's Meet
The men were spectacular in the field events, winning nine medals (four gold) across the six events. Last season's outdoor CCAC pole vault champion Sam Rush was in great form, winning gold in the pole vault (4.40m). Also scoring in the pole vault were Isaac Mojica, Keegan Anderson and Maxwell Stoos, who all cleared 3.20m. Justin Griser cleared 1.81m to tie for first in the high jump, while Isaac Mojica cleared 1.71m to tie for third. Freshman jumper Teagan Bowers collected two medals at the Frigid Bee Invite, winning gold in the triple jump (13.41m) and bronze in the long jump (6.59m). Justin Wright took bronze in the triple jump (12.98m) and placed fourth in the long jump (6.42m), while Quantrell Polk placed fifth in the triple jump (12.39m).
There were two medalists in the shot put. Mick Saloninas took the gold with a 16.75m throw in the shot put, breaking a school record which he previously set multiple times last season and hitting an NAIA-A mark, and Jonah Wilson took bronze (14.90m). Also scoring in the shot put for the Fighting Bees were Alec Seifert in fourth (14.75m), Kyle Uhl in sixth (14.00m), and Bryce Peacher in eighth (13.23m). Lastly, Payton Woods won silver in the weight throw with a 14.52m toss.
On the track, Andrew Olenek got things started with a sixth-place finish in the 60m dash (7.17) and a seventh-place finish in the 200m dash (23.62). Will Reemtsma placed first among collegiate-competition in the 400m dash (50.66). Ben Wilson (52.40) and Cody Thole (52.66) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 400m dash.
The St. Ambrose men's team tallied 130.5 points to finish runner-up at the Frigid Bee Invite. William Penn finished as the meet champion with a total of 176 points.
The Fighting Bees will be back on the track this coming weekend when they host the two-day Finals Week Invite in Davenport Iowa.
