Preseason Top 30 Release | Starting Lineup Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - The Saint John's University football team was ranked No. 7 by College Football America Yearbook in the publication's NCAA Division III Preseason Poll released July 7. In addition, senior linebacker Danny Pietruszewski (South St. Paul, Minn.) and junior wide receiver Ravi Alston (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Vista Murrieta) were named to the College Football America Yearbook's Preseason Starting Lineup (preseason All-America first team).

Wisconsin-Whitewater claimed the publication's top spot, followed by Mount Union (Ohio), defending-champion North Central (Ill.), Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) and Wheaton (Ill.). Elsewhere in the MIAC, St. Thomas was ranked No. 14 and Bethel was No. 23.

SJU was previously ranked in Division III's top 15 by a pair of preseason college football magazines, No. 6 by Street & Smith's and No. 14 by Lindy's. Alston was named to Lindy's preseason All-America first team, the MIAC's lone honoree in either of the two publications.

Pietruszewski and Alston were both named to the 2019 Associated Press (AP) Division III All-America second team, two of seven Johnnie All-Americans last fall.
 
Pietruszewski led SJU in tackles for loss (16.5) and sacks (9.0), while finishing fifth in total tackles (66). He has 185 career tackles (104 solo), including 32.5 for a loss and 20.5 sacks (one from SJU's top-10 list) in 38 career games.
 
Alston finished the 2019 season with 88 receptions for 1,444 yards and 13 touchdowns, including 36 catches for 554 yards and five touchdowns in SJU's four postseason games. The 1,444 receiving yards were third-most in Division III and fell 40 yards shy of the program's single-season record of 1,484 (Blake Elliott '03 in 2002).
 
SJU (12-2, 7-1 MIAC) won a share of its MIAC-record 34th conference title and made its sixth consecutive postseason appearance (30th overall, 26th in Division III), advancing to the national semifinals, last fall.