Jeremy Karger-Gatzow
2025 Alum Track and Field Meet and Social

You are invited back on Saturday, Jan. 25 for the Alum Track and Field Meet and Social. The meet will begin at 11 a.m. in the McNeely Spectrum at Saint John's University and will conclude approximately by 2 p.m.


https://connect.csbsju.edu/register/?id=be2ac41a-9b57-4907-98df-846b704c0221

We would love to see you there!

Jeremy Karger-Gatzow
Head Coach Track & Field

John Email
Go Johnnies Challenge 2024!

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


Go Johnnies Challenge 2024!

Indoor MIAC Championships

Building consistency and routine are important to Track and Field. This not only applies to training, but also carries over to our meet planning and preparation. We typically frequent the same hotels and restaurants to simplify planning for staff and consistency helps reduce mental friction for athletes. When the Conference Meet is in Northfield, you’ll find us exhibiting our best Benedictine values by living simply and staying at the Motel 6 in nearby Lakeville, MN. This is a tradition that Tim probably started because it shares a parking lot with Subway and McDonald’s and allows him to maintain his daily routine. I like it because the Motel 6 is next to a great barbecue restaurant.

This year’s Seniors made the same trip when they were First-Years; same Motel 6 and same restaurants. One story from that trip three years ago has lived on. After the Day One excitement of the MIAC Championships, we checked into the motel and dispersed to Subway or Baldy’s BBQ. At Baldy’s, we all waited patiently for our meals to arrive and engaged in the normal silly discussions that are usual for teams to share after an event. The server would call out an order and bring out the food. After several orders, we eventually hear “Full rack of ribs.” We were the only customers in the restaurant, so it has to be someone from SJU. Who orders a full rack of ribs on the track team budget? That was the tall freshman who must have been feeling confident after his fifth place finish in the 55 meter dash. He received no shortage of heckling from the team and skeptical glances from the coaches. Thankfully he followed it up with a good performance on Day Two in the 200m and 4x200. It has been a team joke ever since.

That tall freshman is now senior Drew Schoenbauer. Last weekend, Drew had another impressive meet. We were back at Baldy’s Friday night after he finished second (6.99) to teammate Ryan Miller (6.96) in the 60 meter dash and he had an even better second day on Saturday. Drew led off of the winning 4x200m team who ran 1:29.06 to break the school record by more than a second. Later in the afternoon, Drew also won the 200 meter dash for his first individual title and broke the school record with a big personal record of 22.19 (his previous pr of 22.52 was from the prior week).

All in all, this was a fun conference meet. We scored over 100 points and have a good mix of new athletes and upperclassmen. It was very gratifying to qualify the maximum number of athletes (we are allowed six in the top twenty-four athletes) in the 60m and 200m, and half in each event scored points toward the overall team score. Based on their performance at the Conference meet, there are four new entries for the SJU Top-10 All-Time 200 meter dash: Drew is 1st, Omavi Collison is 5th, Ryan Miller is 9th, and Jack Young is 10th.

Besides Drew’s performance, many upperclassmen had great championships. Max Martin had a strong 2nd place in the hurdles and ran on the 4x200m team; James Mathison ran a gutsy 5k; Kai Barber placed in both the shot put and weight throw after not competing the past two seasons due to injury; Kevin Lamb scored in the 1000m and 800m; Collin Trout had a big PR in triple jump.

An indoor season surprise is two of our Bahamian freshmen contributed mightily to the team: Michael Wallace in the jumps and Omavi Collison in the sprints. Michael learned the triple jump in January and he finished 4th in the MIAC with 13.84 meters. The 400 meter alumni can appreciate that Omavi even split is 400m race: 25.3 for each lap! Omavi also led off our 4x400m team of freshmen and sophomores who ran a strong 3:23.65 (with Tyler Johnson, Jackson Devereaux, and David Russell).

The stories of Drew’s Conference Meets as a First-year and as a Senior seems to sum up the Conference Meet experience as a coach. We have fun performances by Freshmen who show a lot of promise and we, as coaches, get excited about what they can achieve. It’s also really gratifying as a coach to watch Seniors put it all together with great performances and leave their mark on Johnnie Track & Field history.

I am really excited for the rest of this year and hopefully we have solid performances at this week’s Last Chance Meet to secure several spots at the National Indoor Championships in Boston on March 8th & 9th.

P.S. If you are ever looking for a good meal in Lakeville, I strongly recommend Baldy’s BBQ; Tim suggests McDonald’s or Subway.

Welcome to the Johnnies Track and Field Blog

Welcome to the Johnnies Track and Field Blog.

I love track and field. I spend most of my day either at the track with a fun group of athletes or talking about track with Joe Vardas, SJU Assistant Track Coach and my office-mate. If I’m honest, I spend a fair amount of my time at home talking about track and field, too. Thankfully my wife, Erica, loves the sport, too. Most of the discussions with Joe center around the idea of making someone run faster, jump better, or throw farther. In theory, this should be easy. However, we spend hours pouring over the details and watching videos.

More important than running, jumping, and throwing; I truly believe being an athlete makes you a better person. The voluntary hardship of training for an event and showcasing that skill for a handful of teammates and fans provides a structure to challenge yourself and grow. That is what drew me to track and field and makes me excited to coach.

In coaching, I am often asked, “How does the team look?” or “How was the meet?” My quick response is usually, “Fine.” The non-track fan probably appreciates the brief answer. It is rare that I get a captive audience that wants to know more about the team and will listen about track and field. Every meet has surprises, disappointments and excitements; some strikes and gutters. I hope the track and field blog will provide an opportunity to share more of the nuances of the season rather than just a few times, distance, and heights for those of you who also love the sport or might have loved ones on the team.

With this blog we hope to share:

Weekly updates: Highlight some outstanding performances from the previous week and what to look forward to in the upcoming meet. Beyond meet info, I may feel the need to have guest posts by our fabulous coaching staff to comment on their event groups, spotlight some of their magic workouts, or general shenanigans in practice (did we really spend 5 minutes debating Goldfish crackers vs.Cheez-Its?)

Athlete profiles: Learn about the current team members, their academic interests, and future goals. Hopefully this will connect current athletes to the SJU alumni and create relationships to help them reach their goals.

Future direction of Johnnie Track and Field: I am excited about our current team but have high goals for the future of track and field at Saint John’s. I will share information about upcoming events for alumni involvement, fundraising, and the J-Club.

Alumnus spotlight: Feature updates on Johnnie Track and Field alumni. We want to show the success of our alumni and answer the important question of, “What ever happened to …” I am always impressed with what our alumni are doing, and I hope that inspires current team members and recruits.

I am excited to share about our season and increase the connection you have to Johnnie Track and Field. I hope you enjoy the blog and please contact me with any ideas or questions at jeremykg@csbsju.edu or 320-363-2775.