For the eighth consecutive season, the St. Ambrose men's bowling team will be one of 16 teams vying for a national championship next month.

Competing last weekend in the Addison, Ill., sectional, the Bees finished second out of 20 teams. The top four teams advance to the national championship tournament. Mount Mercy earned the victory with 13,678 pins, just 60 pins ahead of St. Ambrose (13,618). SAU was followed by Marion Wis. (13,398) and Spring Arbor (13,263).

Other sectional qualifying took place in Smyrna, Tenn.; Dallas, Texas; and Pittsburg, Pa. In all, 16 men's and 16 women's teams advance to the Intercollegiate Team Championships in Green Bay, Wis., in April.

Teams at each sectional rolled 32 baker games on Saturday and another 32 baker games on Sunday. After those 64 games, the top four squads from each sectional advanced. SAU team members included Kendric Siders, Lucas Hersrud, Keaten Bieri, Devin Richards, Kevin Magnuson, Tyler Close, Elias O'Hollaren and Evan White.

The 16 teams that comprise this season's men's nationals field include Belmont-Abbey, Lawrence Tech, Marion (Wis.), McKendree, Milligan, Mount Mercy, Newman, Purdue, Savannah College of Art & Design, Southern Nazarene, Spring Arbor, St. Ambrose, St. Francis (Ill.), Trine, Webber International and Wichita State.

On the women's side, St. Ambrose finished in 15th place out of 25 teams.

SAU's total pinfall was 11,169. The top four were Maryville (12,905), Sacred Heart (12,604), Mount Mercy (12,482) and Central Missouri (12,255). Team members for the women were Marissa Bills, Brooklyn Schlapkohl, Lily Murphy, Emma Taft, Kayla Staub, Gianna Koszut, Mia Almeida and Sophie Schillie.

Two SAU bowlers qualified as individuals to compete in the Intercollegiate Singles Championship tournament. Tyler Close finished second out of 285 bowlers in the Addison sectional. Close had a score of 1362 for his six games; it took a score of 1301 to advance. Just eight bowlers out of the 285 advanced. Competing in the Smyrna, Tenn., sectional, freshman Evan Flath advanced. He finished fifth out of 172 bowlers with a score of 1341.

Singles competition takes place April 13-15 while team competition takes place April 16-18 in Green Bay.