Saint John's University

It's been around a half-century now. 

But John Cragg '71 still recalls the numerous, and often-dusty, hours of training he put in while running cross country and track and field at Saint John's University in the late 1960s and early '70s.



"I remember all those roads we used to run on around Collegeville," said Cragg, now an orthopedic surgeon who resides in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

"I'm sure they're all paved now. But back then, they were gravel. We spent a lot of time running on those roads. In those days, the trails in the woods up there weren't all that developed yet. 

"So the roads were where we trained."
  Clearly, the miles spent on those old gravel roads paid off. After arriving on campus in the fall of 1967, the Cretin High School graduate quickly established himself as one of the top collegiate runners in the state.

He finished his collegiate career as a three-time All-American in cross country and twice earned All-American honors in track and field.

He finished second in the nation in cross country as a sophomore and junior in 1969 and '70. Meanwhile, his time of 28:52.31 at six miles in track and field – recorded in 1970 - converts to a faster time in the 10,000 meters than any Johnnie runner has yet been able to achieve at that distance.

"He was a very quiet guy, but he was super-intelligent," recalls Jim Smith, who in addition to his duties as the Johnnies' basketball coach also coached cross country (1965-73) and track (1966-73) during Cragg's time in Collegeville.

"He was extremely smart and very dedicated. He put in the work. And he was so much fun to watch run."

With Cragg leading the way, the Johnnies dethroned longtime conference power Macalester atop the MIAC in men's cross country. 

From 1956-67, the Scots won 11 of 12 conference championships. But Saint John's won the title in 1968 – when Cragg was a sophomore – marking the first of five in a row.

"There were some really good runners around back then," Cragg said. "Macalester had really good teams. We always went back and forth with them."

Cragg had an older brother who attended Saint John's, and he said that helped draw him to the campus.

"He had gone there ahead of me and talked about what a great place it was," he said. "I liked it when I went up to visit.

"So it was kind of a slam-dunk that I'd wind up there."

But the late 1960s were a turbulent time in America. And Cragg said issues like the Vietnam War were never far from the minds of he and his fellow classmates.

"We all knew guys who got drafted, and it was a really divisive issue," he recalls. "Every week, it seemed like there was another protest on campus. It was always there. 

"It was not a happy, go-lucky time. There was always this undercurrent present."

But running offered a respite from all that.

"It was a lot of fun," Cragg said. "We had good camaraderie on the teams I was on. I really enjoyed my time running at Saint John's."