I have a hard time believing that we are already into championship season. We wrapped up the regular season meets last weekend with a majority of the team at Mankato and a handful of distance runners at the University of Minnesota. The big highlight was another school record for Cole Stencel (JR, Maple River). After breaking the mile record earlier in the year, this time it was in the 3,000 meters. He ran 8:19.52 to shave a few seconds off Jim Gathje’s 1985 run of 8:22.40. 

Besides Cole’s school record, we had some additions to the SJU All-Time list:

• Kieran Muran (JR, Holy Angels) moved into 5th in the 200 (22.46) and 6th in the 60 (6.95)

• Aiden Jones (FY, Pierz) broke 7 seconds in the 60 to move into 7th (6.99)

• Grady Minnerath (SO, Rocori) improved on his shot put standings with a throw of 52-1 and put him in 4th place. 

• Bashir Ahmoud (JR, Harding) cracked the top ten in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds. 

Entries came out last night for this weekend’s MIAC Indoor Conference Championship at Carleton College. Coach Joe and our five heptathletes will start competition on Thursday at 2:20pm. The rest of the meet will start Friday at 4:00pm with field events and 4:30 for running events. A few things to watch for:

• After we graduated a good crew of multi’s, this year’s title is up for grabs. Four or five guys are in contention.  

• The 4x200 will be a competitive race vs. Bethel. 

• The distance medley relay has always been a good event for us. Four teams have a shot to win this and it should be a close race. 

• Cole Stencel coming off two school record performances and a near miss in the 1,000. He will be running the mile and the 1,000. 

• Owen Montreuil (SR, Jordan) in the 600 and the 800. Can he break up the St. Olaf dominance in the 800?

If you can’t make it down to Northfield, live video and results can be found at the MIAC Championships webpage: MIAC Indoor Championships

Jeremy

After two more meets, I’ve needed to hand out some “Pretty Good” t-shirts. In our understated midwestern way, we started the tradition of handing out t-shirts that simply say “Pretty Good” when a SJU athlete first cracks into the Johnnie top-ten list. Note: If you’re an alum on the top-ten list, you are welcome to a Pretty Good shirt, too!

The big highlight from last weekend’s meet at the University of Minnesota was an exciting mile. In a loaded heat, Cole Stencel (JR, Maple River) confidently hung out on the rail throughout most of the race. Sitting in fifth place with 200 meters to go, Cole took off and dropped a 28.3 second lap. That move resulted in a win with a time of 4:10.74. That means we’ve got a new SJU team record as well as a UofM meet record. The previous SJU record of 4:11.75 was set in 2003 by John Mathews (‘03). 

A few other additions to the Pretty Good Top-10 lists:

• 800 Meters

  • Owen Montreuil (SR, Jordan) in 5th with a time of 1:55.07

• 60 Meters

  • Aiden Jones (FY, Pierz) in 7th with a time of 7.00.

  • Kiran Murnan (JR, Holy Angels) running 7.03 in 9th. 

  • Bailey Evans (SO, Breckenridge) in 11th with a time of 7.04 (He had moved into 9th place after prelims and was bumped down to 11th after finals. We’ll count it!

• Shot Put

  • Grady Minnerath (SO, Rocori) with a throw of 50-4 for 6th place.

If you don’t have any plans for Valentine’s Day, we’d love to see you at our home meet this weekend. The meet starts at 11:00am. Come see the Johnnies and if we can add anyone else to the All-Time list at our last indoor home meet for the season. We will be down in Mankato the following Friday and then at Carleton College for the MIAC Championships at the end of the month. 

Jeremy

Johnnie track alumni and fans clearly wanted to get out of the house last weekend. Despite the cold temperature, we had a great turnout for our annual alumni meet. Over 40 alumni competed for the Johnnies and dwarfed some of the college teams there. The social was moved to the J-Club room upstairs and guys hung out for quite awhile. I always enjoy starting the season by seeing everyone again. 

A few quick highlights:

• The first running of the David Forster Mile with twenty alumni competing. 

• Steve Kimble (1999) hops in the 400m dash to prove to his son that he’s still got it. He may have wagered and lost a burrito on his quest to break 60 seconds. 

• Alumni who proved they still got it and placed third in the meet: Gavin Rupp (2022) in the weight throw. Daniel Lauer-Schumacher (2007) was third in the 3k. Finally, Alex Crnkovich (2023) held his own in the triple jump. 

• Battle of the distance runners in the 60 meter dash: Tommy Allen (2024) uses his youthful legs to best teammate Alexei Hensel (2024)

• Latest entry: Ryan Bromenschenkel (1999) strolls in with vault poles slung over his shoulder and swaggering with confidence as the young guys are warming up. Impressively stays in one piece.

This week, we remain at home for a small meet with Bethel University on Friday evening. Field events start at 4:30pm and running events at 5pm. I can’t guarantee anyone will be running with a giant inflatable lizard as a baton, but it still should be a good time. We’d love to see you back on campus, especially if you couldn’t make it last week. 

Jeremy

BTW- Distance runners will be competing at the U of M on February 7th. We have one more indoor home meet on Saturday, February 14th. No better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with the Johnnies. 

Dust off those spikes and get ready for the 2026 Alumni Meet! Whether you have been training or not, we would love to see you on Saturday, January 24th. Minimally, come hang out with us to reconnect with old teammates, meet the new team, and hear a few stories from Tim. Here is the link to register: 2026 SJU Alumni Meet Registration

At last year’s alumni meet, we had a great turnout and honored Rocky Schoffman, a legendary masters runner and Johnnie mainstay at our alumni meets. We named the Alumni meet 400 meter race after him. This year, we are dedicating the mile race to David Forster. David graduated from the SJU cross country and track teams in 2011. After college, David continued to run at a high level. In June 2016, David collapsed and passed away suddenly on a training run. For ten years, David’s family has hosted the Finish the Run 5k in David’s honor. We would like to continue to remember David with the “David Forster Alumni Mile.” We will add a specific heat for the alumni or let me know if you are ready to let it rip and want to race the young guys.

The team is finishing up the first week of practice for the 2026 spring semester. It’s been a long holiday break, and I haven’t seen the team in over four weeks. Some of them returned and looked like they had trained diligently. A few of the others may have overestimated the power of youth and assumed they would maintain fitness. Regardless, it’s a long season and I’m excited to get back into the routine. 

We graduated several outstanding athletes from last season’s team. It’s a group we are extremely proud to have coached. Not only did they finish fourth at the NCAA National Championships, but they showed tremendous development throughout their four years at SJU. It will be difficult to replace those guys, but we have a good group of freshmen to work well with our returners. In preparation for our kickoff to the season, I’ll highlight some key returners this week and spotlight some freshmen next week. 

I hope to see you next week.

Jeremy KG

Top Returners

• Max Reis (SO, Spectrum): 3rd at the National Championships (10.35 sec) in the 100m dash and 4x100m relay. Also finished 9th in the long jump (24ft-0.75in) at NCAA’s. 

• Kieran Murnan (JR, Holy Angels): second leg of the 4x100m relay at the National Championships. 5th at the MIAC Championships in the 100 (10.74).

• Cooper Smith (JR, East Grand Forks): 4th at the MIAC Championships in the 400m hurdles in 53.87.

• Owen Montreuil (SR, Jordan): 6th in the 800m run at the MIAC Championships in 1:53.66

• Cole Stencel (JR, Maple River): 3rd in the 1500m run at the MIAC Championships. Season best of 3:51.59.

• Nick St. Peter (SR, Maple Grove): 7th in the 1500m and 8th in the 5k at the MIAC Championships. Season bests of 1:53.01 (800m), 3:54.28 (1500m), and 15:12.38 (5000m).

• Vincent Kaluza (JR, Rocori): 6th in the 10k run and 8th in the steeple at the MIAC Championships. Season bests of 32:10.77 (10k) and 9:32.53 (steeplechase).

• Josh Johnston (SR, Rocori): 7th at the MIAC Championships in pole vault and a best of 15ft-0in.

• Kole Guth (SR, St. Peter): Conference Champion in pole vault and a best of 15ft-0in.

• Anthony Sletta (SO, St. James): 3rd at the MIAC Championships in long jump and a best of 23ft-0in.

• Grady Minnerath (SO, Rocori): 8th in both the shot put and discus at the MIAC championships. Season bests of 48ft-1in and 153ft-1in. 

• Mitchell Degen (SR, Brainerd): Conference champion in the javelin with a best of 197ft-4in. 

• Bailey Evans (SO, Breckenridge): Freshman record holder in the decathlon with 6005 points. Finished 7th at the MIAC Championships. 

A Half-Point of Redemption

Nationals!

Another year, another great group of Johnnies finishing their season at the NCAA National Championships. This group is best characterized as classic hard-working, motivated, student-athletes. However, that is where the similarities end. They come from all different backgrounds, levels of success, and may not have participated in track before coming to SJU.

Kevin Arthur (SR, Champlin Park): a lot has been written about Kevin and his time at SJU. Coming from Ghana, Italy, and then to Minnesota, Kevin has made a tremendous impact on our team and me as a coach. We have utilized Kevin’s Covid eligibility and I’ve learned a lot about coaching someone this long. I am most impressed with his ability to stay focused and he continues to improve. Kevin was not a highly recruited athlete and focused more on soccer. His high school personal records of 11.36 in the 100 and 22.90 in the 200 have been shattered: 10.19 in the 100 and 20.68 in the 200. Kevin will compete in the following events this week:

• 100: prelims at 2:30 on Friday (finals 1:30pm on Saturday)

• 200: prelims at 5:40pm Thursday (finals 2:40pm on Saturday)

• 4x100: prelims at 4:15pm Thursday (finals 12:05pm (Saturday)

Max Lelwica (SR, Brainerd): Max is another athlete who has made significant improvement. With him and teammate Anthony Thurk (SR, Waconia), they have helped develop a foundation of decathletes at SJU. Max has been a tremendous leader on the team and set an example of what athletes can accomplish throughout college. 

• Decathlon: Thursday start time of 10:30am

• Decathlon: Friday start time of 9am

Jackson McDowell (SR, Arapahoe, CO): while I will say we got lucky with Jackson quitting baseball and joining the track team, it is also a testament to guys enjoying their experience with track and field and encouraging others to try it out. Jackson was willing to try something new and be with his friends after a long time in baseball. We have all been rewarded with some big performances and an amazing school record of 7 feet in high jump. 

• High jump: 1:00pm Friday

Max Reis (FY, Spectrum): Max had a successful high school career and was state champion in the 100 and 200 for Spectrum. After taking some time off to work, Max has made a big impact on our team in a short time. He tied the indoor school record in the 60 meter dash (6.78) and broke the outdoor school record in the long jump (24-0.75).

• Long Jump: 1:30pm Thursday

• 100: prelims at 2:30 on Friday (finals 1:30pm on Saturday)

• 4x100: prelims at 4:15pm Thursday (finals 12:05pm (Saturday)

The 4x100: rounding out the 4x100 are four guys (two alternates) who have combined for school records, conference championships, and conference records. We have run different combinations of runners the last two years and these guys have unselfishly been willing to help the team. They also have come from different experience levels:

• Kieran Murnan (SO, Holy Angels): placed at the state meet in high school. Ran a personal record 10.74 in the 100 at the conference meet after coming off a hamstring injury. He didn’t run the 4x100 at the conference meet. 

• Emanual Popoca (SR, Bloomington): Another runner with big improvements at SJU. He went from running 11.71 and 24.17 in high school to 11.03 and 22.47.

• Aidan Morey (JR, Omaha, NE) A life-long soccer player, Aidan found his way to track and has been an important part of the sprints squad. He was the leadoff leg at Drake and helped set the school record. 

• Matt Hansen (SO, Niwot CO): Why not round out the squad with another guy who didn’t do track in high school. He is the kicker on the football team and had fun at a track camp during his freshman year. We are still figuring out Matt’s best event since he has done well in everything we have thrown him in. 

Take some time out of the workday to follow along here: 

Live Results

Live Stream

Thanks,

Jeremy

The last two weeks have been non-stop action for the Johnnies. We have had four meets in the last two weeks without counting the Drake Relays and the MIAC Decathlon Championships. It calmed down just long enough to finish entries for this weekend’s MIAC Championships. We are predicting a very close meet with Bethel’s track team who are ranked #11 in the country. The Johnnies are currently ranked #14. 

We have had a few big highlights in the last two weeks starting with the Drake Relays. The 4x800 relay team of Owen Montreuil (JR, Jordan), Nick St. Peter (JR, Maple Grove), Max McCoy (SO, Mount Michael, NE) and Tommy Allen (SR, St. Paul Academy) started the Drake weekend by breaking the school record with a time of 7:35.84. We have been eyeing that record for a while as it was one of the oldest school records set in 1971 by Brian Racette, Bill Seidl, Greg Cook, and Chuck Way when they ran 7:38.60. 

The sprinters responded the next morning during a chilly 9:00 am preliminary round in the 4x100 by running 40.68 which was .03 shy of the school record. The team of Aidan Morey (JR, Creighton Prep, NE), Kevin Arthur (SR, Champlin Park), Kieran Murnan (SO, Holy Angels, and Max Reis (FR, Spectrum) were well prepared for the finals the next day in slightly warmer temperatures. They crushed the record with a 40.28! The previous record was set in 2022 with a younger Kevin Arthur joined by Jack Young, Brady Labine, and Ryan Miller. Here’s the video of the new record: 4x100 School Record Video

Moving on to the MIAC Conference Championships, our decathletes earned us a good head start in the competition by placing first, third and seventh. Senior Max Lelwica (Brainerd) scored 6,905 points for the win. His close teammate, Anthony Thurk (SR, Waconia) scored 6,378 points for third place and freshman Bailey Evans (Breckenridge) finished in seventh place with 5,734 points. Coach Joe has done a tremendous job developing the decathletes and so far leads the coaching competition with the group of decathletes ranked #3 in the country. 

MIAC entries are submitted and we are waiting to see who qualifies. This year’s meet is at Macalester on Friday and Saturday this week. Friday’s events start at 2pm with the hammer and long jump. Running events start at 2:30 with a loaded 1500 meter final (the MIAC moved to finals only in the 1500 two years ago). Saturday starts at noon with the javelin and triple jump. We start on the track with the 4x100 final at 1:30pm. If you can’t make it, I have included links below for live streaming and results. 

It looks to be a great weekend and hopefully we will see some of you there!

Jeremy

MIAC Live Stream

MIAC Live Results

I haven’t had much time for updates as hosting the MIAC Indoor Championship meet kept us busy. Thankfully I am lucky to work alongside some great coaches who really dedicated a lot of time in preparing for this meet. When they were combined with some of the best track officials in Minnesota, I thought we ran a pretty good championship meet. 

We quickly went from the conference meet, to a couple of last chance meets, and now I have some time at the airport. We are on our way to Rochester, NY for the NCAA Indoor National Championship meet. We have five athletes competing this weekend. 

• Max Reis (FY, Spectrum): 60 meter dash: Friday at 1:00pm

• Jackson McDowell (SR, Centennial CO): High Jump: Saturday at 11:00am

• Zach Schaffer (SR, Chaska): Long Jump: Friday at 2:30pm

• Anthony Thurk (SR, Waconia): Heptathlon: Friday & Saturday

• Max Lelwica (SR, Brainerd): Heptathlon: Friday & Saturday

The team finished third at the MIAC Indoor Championships. It was a typical meet with highs and lows which set the scene for some drama with our heptathletes. The big highlight was an exciting 30 minutes to end the Friday session. Max Reis ran a big PR in the 60 of 6.78 seconds. He finished second in the race, tied Kevin Arthur’s school record, and qualified for nationals. At the same time, Jackson McDowell was finishing the high jump. He broke the school record for the victory and also qualified for nationals with his jump of 6-11. Shortly after, our distance medley team of Tommy Allen (SR Woodbury), Ryan Conzemius (SR LaCrosse, WI), Lars Molenkamp (SO Netherlands), and Cole Stencel (SO Mapleton) pulled off the upset win over good teams from St. Olaf, Macalester, and Bethel. It was an exciting and loud end to the evening. 

That excitement salvaged a bittersweet start to the day. Our heptathletes had an amazing first day on Thursday. Not only did Anthony Thurk and Max Lelwica lead the competition, but they were also positioned well to qualify for nationals. Unfortunately, this was the heptathlon and disaster struck on day two with Max no-heighting in pole vault. This could have easily derailed both him and Anthony as they were distraught in the moment: best friends, close teammates, and inseparable. Instead, Anthony rallied for the big win and hit his qualifying mark for Nationals. Max was the consummate teammate by staying positive and supporting teammates in all their events. I could not be more proud of these guys. 

Of course, Max bounced back the next week by breaking the 5,000 point barrier to solidify his spot at Nationals and join his teammate at Nationals. His score of 5,063 won the heptathlon at the Wartburg last chance meet. Not to be outdone for dramatics, Zach Schaffer left it to his final jump at the last chance meet in La Crosse to qualify for nationals. He did it in record breaking fashion with a jump 23-7.75 to break Erik Diley’s school record from 2009. 

While this doesn’t include a national qualifier, we did break one more school record at the last chance meet. The Conference champion DMR anchor Cole Stencel drafted a new distance medley team of Nick St. Peter (JR Maple Grove), Wyatt Witschen (SO Monticello), and Owen Montreuil (JR Jordan). They ran 10:04.89 and finished ranked 17th in the country (top 12 relay teams qualify for nationals). 

We haven’t had five athletes qualify for Nationals since 2020. We get started on Friday. Follow along here:

Live Results

Live Video

Thanks

Jeremy

The team is rounding into shape just in time for this weekend’s indoor conference championships. We had several pr’s last Friday in Mankato. Nearly every sprinter in the 200 hit a PR after a pep talk from Kevin Arthur. Although that was impressive, the highlight of the meet came in the 1,000. Three Johnnies competed against a handful of Minnesota State runners and a few Gusties. After missing most of the last outdoor season and fall training due to injury, Tommy Allen (SR, Woodbury) ran the race for the first time this season. Owen Montreil (JR, Jordan) and Cole Stencel (SO, Mapleton) tried the race for the first time. Both stepped out of their comfort zones as Owen moved up from the 400/800 and Cole stepped down from the Mile/3k. All raced extremely well and in characteristic Tommy Allen-fashion, he made a big move for the win in 2:32.72 with Cole and Owen following close behind. 

This week, we are hosting the MIAC Indoor Conference Championships. While it is great for the athletes to compete at home, it is also a big workload to prepare for the meet. The coaching staff has been busy preparing the facilities, finding officials, and catering to all the needs of the other coaches and teams. Thankfully we have found some time to coach as well. 

We have several options for you to follow along: 

• Live Stream: https://miacsportsnetwork.com/saintjohns/

• Live Results: https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/43465

• Ticket Sales: https://miacathletics.com/sports/2025/2/13/TRACKFIELD_TIX.aspx

Thursday, February 27

2:20    Heptathlon Day 1             Men

EST: 2:20 60m, 3:00 LJ, 4:15 SP, 5:30 HJ

Friday, February 28

10:00  Heptathlon Day 2            Men

EST: 10:00 60H, 11:30 PV, 3:00 1000m

FIELD EVENTS

4:00    Long Jump      Men                 Final

4:00    Weight             Women             Final

5:00    Pole Vault         Women             Final

6:30    Long Jump    Women             Final

6:30    High Jump       Men                   Final

6:30    Weight             Men                   Final

TRACK EVENTS

4:30    60 M Hurdles  Men            Prelims

4:45    60 M Hurdles   Women             Prelims

5:00    5000 Meters     Men                  Final

5:20    5000 Meters     Women             Final

5:45    60 Meters          Men                   Prelims

5:55    60 Meters          Women             Prelims

6:05    Mile                  Men                Final

6:25    Mile                  Women           Final

6:50    60 M Hurdles    Women            Final

7:00    60 M Hurdles    Men                   Final

7:05    400 Meters      Men                 Final

7:20    400 Meters       Women            Final

7:35    800 Meters       Men                 Final

7:50    800 Meters       Women             Final

8:05    60 Meters          Men                 Final

8:10    60 Meters          Women            Final

8:15    Distance Medley Men               Final

8:30    Distance Medley Women          Final

Saturday, March 1

FIELD EVENTS

12:00  Triple Jump       Men    Final

12:00  Shot Put            Women Final

12:00  High Jump         Women Final

1:00    Pole Vault          Men    Final

2:30    Triple Jump       Women Final

2:30    Shot Put            Men    Final

TRACK EVENTS

1:00    4 x 200 Relay    Men    Final

1:15    4 x 200 Relay    Women Final

1:30    3000 Meters     Men    Final 1

1:45    3000 Meters     Women Final 1

2:00    600 Meters       Men    Final

2:10    600 Meters       Women Final

2:25    1000 Meters     Men    Final

2:40    1000 Meters     Women Final

2:55    200 Meters       Men    Final

3:10    200 Meters       Women Final

3:25    3000 Meters     Men    Final  2

3:40    3000 Meters     Women Final  2

3:55    4 x 400 Relay    Men    Final

4:10    4 x 400 Relay    Women Final

Coach Joe’s Jumpers are killing it!

 Each year, the coaching staff has a friendly and sometimes heated competition to see whose event group will have the highest national standing or “squad ranking”. To calculate the ranking, the Coaches’ Association takes a team’s top four athletes in each event and ranks them against all the NCAA Division 3 schools. In some events, the key is having four athletes with a qualifying mark that season. It is much more difficult to have 4 athletes complete a heptathlon over the course of one indoor season compared to the 60m dash. There might be only a handful of schools with four heptathletes but most will have four sprinters. 

Currently, Coach Joe is destroying the rest of us in squad ranking. His heptathletes, long jumpers, and high jumpers are off to a great start this year and those squads are all ranked top-ten in the nation. It helps to have an All-American high jumper in Jackson McDowell (2025, Colorado), but jumpers 2, 3 & 4 are all tied at 6ft-3.5in. That’s a pretty good group! The rest of us coaches have some serious work to do to catch him. 

We have our third home meet of the year this Saturday, February 15th. This is a large meet with thirteen teams joining the Johnnies and Bennies. Many of the teams are coming because we are hosting the indoor conference championships. Saturday’s meet starts at 11:00am and we’d love to see some alumni in the stands. 

After that, the MIAC Indoor Championships begins Thursday, February 27th with the heptathlon. The rest of the meet is Friday, February 28th starting at 4pm and Saturday, March 1st at noon. Sounds like a good group of alumni will be returning for the meet- we hope you join us!

Thanks, 

Jeremy

2025 Alumni Meet Wrap-Up 

Thanks to everyone who attended our annual alumni meet. We had a great showing with many alumni competing and even more showing up to support current and past teammates. 

Saint John’s had a photographer at the meet and took some great photos. Here is a link to some of the photos. Great shots of the current team and of the 4x400’s. The amount of costumes has improved over the last two years. Alumni Meet Photo Album

A few quick highlights of the meet:

• A couple big second place finishes for the alumni team: 

  • Gavin Rupp (2022) had a good throw in the weight: 50-10.25

  • Shawn Schindler (2022) cleared 13-5 in pole vault. 

• Jeff Eckstein (2000) carrying the costume load for the group. I appreciate it when someone shows up with a garment bag full of costume options. He also got his money’s worth from the meet by doing the 60, 200, 400, and 4x4. 

• If anyone was lucky to watch the final heat of the 400, you witnessed 150 meters of doubt and pain by Kevin Arthur (2024). He nearly set a new PR in the 200 during his first lap of the 400. He opened a big lead and then hit the 250 mark. I am not sure how he finished that race. He had many nervous glances over his shoulder during the last 150 trying to fend off a good group of sophomores. Miraculously and just barely, he held on with a fall at the line for the win.

Each September we call on the generosity of our alumni and friends to support the cross country and track and field teams. You have surpassed our goals every year which has allowed us to make program updates and fund our operating expenses. With your donations, we have made facility upgrades, installed record boards to document our successful history, outfitted the team with new uniforms, and recently bought equipment to aid in athlete recovery. More commonly, your donations help fund our operating expenses such as bus transportation, post-meet meals, and hotels. Without these donations, we would not be able to attend our minimum required meets due to the increased cost of transportation and food. Don’t worry, we still frequent the Super 8 or Motel 6 on those overnight trips. 

Most importantly, your donations allow us to have a large roster. Having more people on the team is expensive, but it is also vital to the athlete experience. This experience is cultivated by providing everyone an opportunity to develop and compete. We provide this opportunity to everyone from the state champion to the walk-on athlete who is not given a chance elsewhere. All of these athletes contribute to the success of the team whether it is scoring points at the conference meet, taking on a leadership role, or telling a great story between reps. 

My goal is to continue this high level of athlete support, where every athlete is allowed to improve and contribute. Your donations are vital to this athlete experience and the team’s success. Once again, thank you for your support.

Jeremy KG

How to donate and support Johnnie Cross Country and Track and Field.

1.       Simply donate to the Challenge at www.gojohnnies.com/gjc24

2.       Become an Advocate for the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. Encourage others to donate by pushing the campaign out on your social media accounts or contact classmates and teammates to encourage them to donate. You can start this process through the link below.

3.       Consider making a matching gift to the campaign. These are used to encourage others to donate by matching their gift with an additional amount. You can set this up through the link below.

4.       Share the www.gojohnnies.com/gjc24 link on your personal social media pages and invite others to support Johnnie Track and Field

Summer has officially ended. I tried to extend it as long as possible, but I couldn’t stop classes from starting this year. However, I feel satisfied that I was able to pack in as much as I could this summer. I coached a group of high school athletes in Australia, spent two weeks in Hawaii on the return trip with my family, hiked my annual 14’er in Colorado with alumni and friends, and just finished a 21 mile day-hike in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park in Canada with a high school teammate. I am thankful to have such great people in my life to go on all these adventures.

We started our season with the first practice on Monday. It is a large team this year with 32 freshmen (11 who competed at the state meet). The freshmen will add some depth in needed areas and complement a strong group of returning athletes. I will provide a more detailed preview later this fall. 

Along with the beginning of the season, is the annual Go Johnnies Challenge on Thursday, September 12.  We always rely on your support to provide a positive experience for our athletes. It becomes harder each season as our expenses have increased dramatically over the last several years. Buses alone will cost us $22,000 for the year and will eat into our budget of $26,000. That doesn’t leave much left for juice.

Your past support has been greatly appreciated and made a tremendous impact on the team experience. The donations have allowed us to have a large roster which provides a strong team atmosphere, purchase necessary equipment, and cover yearly food/travel expenses.

The Go Johnnies website is active and we have generous matching and challenge gifts to encourage your participation. A big thank you to Chris Lee and Jerry and Laura Colbert for getting us started!

It’s easy for you to help us have a successful campaign once again.

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Last week's last chance meet was a little underwhelming. It was a long trip down to Rock Island, IL for a two-day meet that lacked any last chance magic for us. The 4x100 relay didn't improve on their time and finished the season ranked 18th in the country (top 16 relay teams qualify for the National Championship). Our other athletes who were close to qualifying didn't improve their performances either. However, Max Lelwica (JR, Brainer) stayed in Minnesota for a last chance decathlon at St. Olaf. Max had the big performance of the weekend for us and scored a new pr of 6526 and moved to 12th in the nation. 

In the end, we have three athletes competing at this year’s National Championships. Max will compete in the decathlon on Thursday and Friday. Jackson McDowell (FY, Centennial, CO) high jumps on Friday. Kevin Arthur (JR, Champlin Park) will run both the 100 and 200. This year’s National Championships are down in Myrtle Beach, SC. I am currently sitting on our balcony overlooking the ocean. An AirBnB condo is much cheaper and more comfortable than hotel rooms. 

I’m excited to be traveling with these guys and Coach Joe and Brady Labine (who has been helping coach the sprinters all season). We started the trip with the coaches going for a moonlit run on the beach on Wednesday night. Max, Kevin, and Jackson have been great to work with this year. They have been positive leaders on the team and I am excited to see what they can accomplish this weekend. 

Here are the details for the weekend. Follow along if you can!

Jeremy

Live Results

Live Video

Time Schedule (all times CT)

Thursday: 

• Decathlon: 100-meter dash (11 a.m.), long jump (~11:45 a.m.), shot put (~12:55 p.m.), high jump (~1:45 p.m.) and 400-meter dash (3:40 p.m.)

• 200 Prelims: 5:55pm

Friday:

• Decathlon: 110-meter hurdles (11 a.m.), discus (11:45 a.m.), pole vault (~1 p.m.), javelin (3:45 p.m.) and 1,500 meters (~5:30 p.m.)

• High Jump: 3:00pm

• 100m Prelims: 4:45pm

Saturday:

• 100 Finals: 4:40pm

• 200 Finals: 5:50pm

I am currently down at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL for a last chance meet. We are a bit scattered since UW-LaCrosse is no longer hosting their usual last chance meet. I came down on Tuesday with some field event guys and Coaches Maxwell and Brady are bringing the rest of the guys later. Coach Joe is at a decathlon last chance meet at St. Olaf. 

While I'm sitting in our hotel, I wanted to give a quick recap of the MIAC Championship. Despite the second place team finish, I am really happy with how our team performed. The guys characteristically perform well at championship meets and this performance was no exception. Based on everyone's predictions, Bethel was expected to win the meet by over 50 points. They are the #4 ranked team in the country and have a great team this year. Behind some outstanding performances, they guys managed to get within 11 points and at least make Bethel nervous. 

The big performance came from Kevin Arthur (JR, Champlin Park). He has been consistent all year, but was ranked 2nd in the 100 and 3rd in the 200 behind Bethel sprinters. In the 100 prelims, Kevin set the conference championship record with a time of 10.31. In the finals, he gave the Bethel runner a generous lead after a subpar start. However, he blew by him in the last 30 meters and ran 10.32 seconds. In the 200, I will argue that Kevin's race in finals is the best I have seen him run. He ran a great turn from the gun and held his lead over the Bethel runners. Kevin's time of 20.68 is the best time in Division 3 this year. It also set a new school record, the conference championship record, the All-Time MIAC record, and is fifth All-Time in Division 3. 

Coach Joe's jumpers didn't want to miss out on the fun as we saw a new school record in high jump. Jackson McDowell (FR, Centennial, CO) jumped 6-10.75. Not bad for his first year in track! 

A group of seniors who technically have eligibility left performed well. Joe Charbonneau (New Richmond, WI) won his fifth conference championship in pole vault. Jaeden Frost (Omro, WI) has been all-conference many times, and won his first conference championship. He upset some good hammer throws for the title. Maybe I can convince these guys to use their last season of eligibility! 

Across the team, we had strong performances and I am proud of how well they have trained and competed this year. I will provide another update after our last chance meets and hopefully have several qualifiers for the national championships. 

Jeremy

Johnnie track and field athletes are exceptional at welcoming everyone to the team. Our athletes help coaches create a supportive atmosphere where everyone can pursue their goals and find success. They celebrate their teammates’ improvements whether it is breaking a school record, qualifying for the conference meet, or setting a personal best. 

Sometimes those personal achievements are highlighted by absurd coincidences that truly showcase the moment. Enter “Yakety Sax.” If you are not familiar with this song, I suggest you check it out. For me, it conjures up the memory of watching the Johnny Carson show with my grandmother. Immediately following Johnny Carson was the Benny Hill show with the theme song “Yakety Sax.” I don’t know how to describe it other than a comedy show revolving around an absurd old man and containing lots of double entendre that made little kid Jeremy (and probably current age Jeremy) very uncomfortable. And Yakety Sax was the show’s soundtrack. 

What does this have to do with track? We had two meets last week to provide opportunities to qualify for this week’s MIAC Championships. Wednesday’s meet at St. Thomas had some very good performances and set the team up well. We traveled to St. Olaf on Saturday with a smaller group of guys who either needed an additional competition to prepare or still needed to qualify. One of those athletes needing to qualify was freshman Conor Brynteson (Robbinsdale Cooper). He was not on the radar to qualify in the hammer throw and even asked last week “How realistic is it to PR by 5 meters to qualify?” Going into Saturday’s meet Conor’s PR was 33 meters. 

Conor’s first throw on Saturday was a foul into the cage. After some adjustments, he had a small improvement and was feeling good. His next throw was over 34 meters and there might have been a little celebratory hoot afterwards. He threw over 35 meters on his next throw and joyously jogged down the sector line to retrieve the hammer from the official. Then Conor let loose a throw over 37 meters. As it landed, an even louder yell was released from Conor while he was still in the circle and then he ran down the sector line. Coincidentally, the song Yakety Sax was playing at the track and was perfectly timed to his run. I’m not sure if anyone else witnessed this, but it was a fantastic moment to see an athlete excited for their improvement and brought a bit of levity to what can sometimes be a long day. In the end, it was also enough to qualify Conor for the MIAC conference meet- congratulations Conor! 

The MIAC Outdoor Championship meet started last week at Carleton College with the decathlon competition.  Our decathletes kicked it off with great performances. Max Lelwica (JR, Brainerd) finished second with 6,432 points and Anthony Thurk (JR, Waconia) scored 6,269 points for sixth. Max and Anthony have been fun to watch develop for the last three years. Those scores raised them up in the national rankings (13th and 24th respectively) and could mean a trip to NCAA championships in two weeks. 

The rest of the conference meet is this Friday and Saturday at Hamline University. Field events start at 2pm on Friday and running events begin at 2:30pm. Saturday’s field events commence at noon and  running events start at 1:30pm. We hope to see some alumni there.

Follow along with the MIAC Outdoor Championships this weekend: 

• Live Results

• Live Stream

This is the time of the season when it feels like I’m either at a meet or preparing for a meet everyday. I took a crew of athletes to the meet in California, hosted a home meet on Saturday, had a long day at University of Minnesota on Wednesday and now preparing to travel to Gustavus on Saturday. I even squeezed in an additional one on Thursday to watch my kids compete in their first track and field meet. While it is exciting to see the payoff of all the athletes' hard work, I miss the relaxed atmosphere of the early season and the focus on training. 

I don’t have much to report about the trip to California to compete at the Brian Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University. Unfortunately, the weather was cold, rainy, and overcast. In fact, the rest of the team enjoyed considerably better weather when they competed at Mankato the same weekend. Highlights were taking Jaeden Frost (JR, Omro, WI) to see the ocean for the first time and we ate well. Also noteworthy The trip was definitely fun, but the weather hindered performances. 

Our home meet was the first outdoor home meet we have hosted in three years. Meets in the previous years were canceled due to snow, including one earlier this April I named the Optimistic Invitational. Last weekend we were free of snow, it was barely in the 40’s with a cool wind. 

Wednesday at the University of Minnesota was a beautiful day with sunshine and relatively calm winds. We had many good performances as a result of the ideal conditions. Sophomore Mitch Degen (Brainerd) won the javelin with a throw of 172ft-11in. Mitch has been steadily improving all year and is really starting to figure out the event. Kevin Arthur (JR, Champlin Park) continues to run well. He tied his PR in 100m dash prelims with 10.38 and came back to win the 4x100m relay in 41.20 with Emanual Popoca (JR, Bloomington Kennedy), Zach Schaffer (SO, Chaska), Kieran Murnan (FR, Holy Angels). Nick St. Peter (SO, Maple Grove) seemed to enjoy running on this calm evening after having to suffer through the worst conditions in California as he ran his 1500 in 50 degrees and a hard rain. Nick ran an evenly split 800m run for a new PR of 1:54.84. One more notable performance was Vincent Kaluza (FR, Rocori) in the steeplechase. His time of 9:46.63 is one of the faster freshmen we have had in awhile and he will continue to improve on that this year. 

National Ranking Updates

• Kevin Aurther: ranked 4th in the 100m dash with 10.38 (has run the time twice)

• Jackson McDowell: 12th in High Jump with 6-8.75

• 4x100m relay: 12th with 41.20 (Emanuel Popoca, Kevin Arthur, Zach Schaffer, Kieran Murnan)

• Zach Schaffer: 20th in Long Jump with 23ft-5.25in

• Kevin Aurther: 21st in the 200m dash with 21.46 (on a cold day in California)

• Cooper Smith: 37th in the 400 hurdles with 54.57 (cracks the top five for freshmen)

• Jaeden Frost: 38th in Hammer with 179ft-10in (2nd All-Time at SJU)

As mentioned, we are off to Gustavus this Saturday, April 27th. We will be at St. Thomas next Wednesday, May 1st. Stop by if you’re in the area. 

Jeremy

BTW: For all the 4x100 fans: We have been running multiple 4x100m relays most meets, often running three teams. Our “B” team on Wednesday ran a respectable 42.68. The team is composed of four guys who did not compete in track in high school. This has been a fun group to train: Brennan Blake (FR, Totino-Grace) joined at spring break from baseball, Joey Moberg (FR, St. Paul Johnson) came from the SJU football team, Matt Hansen (FR, Niwot, CO) is the SJU football kicker, and Aidan Morey (SO, Creighton Prep, NE) from SJU soccer. 

Recruiting is an interesting endeavor in track and field. We can spend a significant amount of time recruiting outstanding high school track athletes only to have them show up on campus and decide they don’t want to compete anymore. To balance out those heartbreaks, we sometimes are gifted a talented athlete who has no prior experience in track. We have several of those guys and they are coming from basketball, soccer, and baseball.  This year, we have picked up a couple guys from the Johnnie baseball team.  I briefly mentioned Jackson McDowell from Colorado during the indoor season. We picked up Jackson before the trade deadline and probably owe the baseball team a “player to be named later” and a jar of Saint John’s maple syrup. Hopefully the price doesn’t increase as he continues to improve each week. At our meet last weekend at Hamline, Jackson won a jump-off for first place in the high jump and cleared 2.0 meters (6-6.75) and is ranked 18th in the country.

A couple other guys inserted themselves in the early national rankings with good performances at the Hamline meet as well. Kevin Arthur (JR, Champlin Park) ran a new personal record in the 100 with a 10.38 which is good enough for third in the country. Jumper Zach Schaffer hit a big pr in the triple jump with a distance of 13.81and is ranked in the top 30 for both long and triple jumps. Both of those guys were joined by Aidan Morey (SO, Omaha) and Kieran Murnan (FY, Lakeville) on the 4x100. We had a last minute substitution for our lead-off leg and they combined for a 41.68 which is currently ranked 25th. 

The distance guys started the outdoor season with strong performances in the 5k. Freshman Vincent Kaluza (Cold Spring) debuted in the race with one of the fastest freshmen times in a long time. He confidently ran 15:13 and he will be one to watch improve throughout the year.

Overall, I am impressed with the start of the season. Some of the performances were very good despite the cool and windy day. This week, the team splits between two meets. I am taking five guys to California and the rest of the team is headed down at Mankato. In California, we will be competing in the Bryan Clay meet again. This may be one of the biggest meets ever. Over 800 men are competing in just the 1500! Hopefully we have some good performances to report next week. 

Speaking of next week, we are back home for our only home outdoor meet of the year. We have made some schedule adjustments and will be hosting the first day of the women’s heptathlon and 10k’s on Friday night. The rest of the meet is Saturday. We’d love to have you return to cheer on the team or compete. Email me if you are interested in competing: jeremykg@csbsju.edu.

In the meantime, I’ll be scouring the baseball rosters for the next big trade. I’ll have to pull Tim out of retirement to work some Moneyball magic. 

Jeremy

As a proud Minnesotan and someone who enjoys all seasons, this winter storm has pushed me to the edge. I can handle the lack of snow impacting my skiing as long as it means we have an early start to outdoor track meets. 

With the winter storm last week, I told my Coaching Methods class to make informed decisions if you decide to coach after college. Don’t simply choose the sport you love or the one you saw the most success. My advice was to choose a sport with a short season (track has the longest competitive season of any sport) and to choose based on weather. Ideally, choose a fall sport as weather disruptions happen less often. Better yet, choose an indoor sport in the fall: you rarely need to change travel plans due to weather and never have to worry about rain or snow during the matches. As a result, I will be transitioning to volleyball very soon!

Our first home meet of the year, named the Optimistic Invitational, was scheduled for March 28th. The meet was officially canceled after the snow. Over the last three years, we have canceled four of the last five outdoor meets we planned to host. I guess this is simply averaging out our home meets from 2021 when we needed to host nearly every weekend due to covid restrictions. That year, we hosted four indoor meets and four outdoor meets. 

Hopefully our next home meet will be safe. We are hosting on April 20th and are encouraging alumni to attend that meet. As always, any alumni are welcome to compete. 

Jeremy

BTW: I didn’t have a chance to write an update after the National Division III Championships. Kevin finished 15th in the 60 meter dash and earned 2nd Team All-American status. While Kevin was disappointed with his Nationals performance, he had a great indoor season with tremendous improvement to qualify for the Championship meet. 

Kevin Arthur (Sr, Champlin Park) and I had an uneventful day of travel on Wednesday to Virginia Beach, VA. Kevin has qualified for the NCAA Indoor National Championships in the 60-meter dash. He is the Johnnies lone qualifier after last week’s last chance meet at UW- La Crosse.

Despite a lack of last chance meet magic, we still had some good performances. Zach Schaffer (SO, Chaska) joined the seven meter/ 23 foot club in long jump with a jump of 7.03 (23-0.5). He has been flirting with that for awhile and it was a relief to finally break the barrier. Our guys in the 800 also performed well. Tommy Allen (Jr, St. Paul Academy) tied his outdoor PR with a time of 1:54.56. Sophomore Nick St. Peter (Maple Grove) ran his first 800 of the year in 1:56.83. I’m excited to see what they can run outdoors. 

As we wrap up the indoor season this week, follow along with the live results and video links below. Kevin will run the 60 meter prelims on Friday at 1:15 Central time. Hopefully he will be back on Saturday for the finals at 2:35 Central time. 

Live Results

Live Video

BTW: Mark your calendars for our outdoor home meets: Thursday, March 28th and Saturday, April 20th.

The MIAC indoor conference meet last week started with the Johnnies down two coaches. We anticipated Coach Maxwell would be staying home with a new baby (Marais Annette arrived on the 16th), but wasn’t expecting Coach Joe to be sick. After some quick adjustments, I took Joe’s heptathletes down on Thursday (after a rough first few days, Joe recovered quickly and was able to join when the full team came to Northfield. Those last minute changes are easier when we have people like Tim and Brady Labine helping to make sure things run smoothly- so grateful for their continued support! 

Overall, I am proud of how well the guys competed at the MIAC Indoor Championships this year. Many a coach likes to “score the meet” to determine team scores based on qualifying entries. Based on that preliminary data, it appeared Bethel would win big and several schools would be tight to come in second, specifically St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, and SJU. I personally don’t make a practice of scoring the meet ahead of time, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get nervous about how everything will shake out in the days leading up to it. In the end, Bethel came out on top. They have an outstanding team this season and are currently fifth in the DIII National rankings. SJU was a clear second and can boast five individual conference champions: Tommy Allen (JR, St. Paul Academy) was a double champion in the 800 and 1,000 meter runs, Kevin Arthur (SR, Champlin Park) won the 60 meter dash, Joe Charbonneau (JR, New Richmond, WI) came out on top in pole vault, and Zach Schaffer (SO, Chaska) was long jump champion. 

A meet like this reinforces how well the Johnnies have historically performed at conference meets (okay, maybe not always for Indoor!). Guys are hitting PR’s consistently at the big meets and this year is no exception. From the guys scoring points to the guys just qualifying to compete, many are performing well. Seeing an athlete's hard work pay off at the right time is very rewarding as a coach.

A great example is Tommy Allen this weekend. He competed in the 800m and the 1k. The 800m was on day one and another competitor ran a fast time in the second heat. To have a chance to win, Tommy needed to make sure to keep a brisk pace in the final heat. He decided to take the lead early and went the distance for the win in 1:55.33. On day two for the 1,000 meter run, the game plan going in was to not lead the early part of the race and feel out the competition. Some of the top guys had run several races and might not have much left. It was a thrilling and well-executed race and you should watch it here:

MIAC Indoor 1,000 Video

BTW: I created a youtube channel for videos throughout the season. I also created a few playlists of videos that we use on our videoboard. Many of the videos are notable performances and school records. You can check out the videos here: Jeremy KG SJU TF youtube 

If you have any video that might be fun to add, send it my way. 

Jeremy

Up next: we are taking a few guys to the last chance meet at UW-La Crosse on Saturday. So far, Kevin Arthur is qualified for nationals and is ranked 5th in the country. He will run the 200 this weekend and is currently ranked 22nd in that event. Tommy Allen and Nick St. Peter (SO, Maple Grove) will run the 800m dash this weekend. Joe Charbonneau and Kole Guth (SO, St. Peter) will vault. Jaeden Frost (SR, Omro, WI), is coming off of two big third place finishes in the shot put and weight throw at the conference championship and will throw both. Zach Schaffer will be competing in the long jump. These guys decided to delay the start of their spring break to fit in one more indoor competition- wish them luck!