MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Fifteen Saint John's University cross country student-athletes earned 2021 Academic All-MIAC honors on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

Those honored (listed alphabetically) include:

-Sophomore Tommy Allen (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Academy), a biochemistry major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 4.0 GPA; 
-Junior Riley Berg (Bemidji, Minn.), a biology major with a 3.80 GPA; 
-Senior Dillon Diekmann (Lake Elmo, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), an accounting major with a 3.93 GPA; 
-Sophomore Jacob Gathje (Omaha, Neb./Mount Michael Benedictine), a mathematics major with a 4.0 GPA; 
-Senior Andy Goldsmith (Tulsa, Okla./Cascia Hall), an integrative science major with a 3.86 GPA; 
-Junior Mitch Grand (Hutchinson, Minn.), an accounting major with a 3.53 GPA; 
-Sophomore Carter Grove (Osakis, Minn.), a computer science major with a 4.0 GPA; 
-Junior Alexei Hensel (Buffalo, Minn.), an environmental studies major with a 3.59 GPA; 
-Senior Max Krause (Downers Grove, Ill./North), a Hispanic studies and political science double-major with a 3.96 GPA; 
-Junior Jacob Lipke (Stewart, Minn./Hutchinson), a mathematics major with a 3.98 GPA; 
-Junior Nico Merickel (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), an economics major with a 3.90 GPA; 
-Senior Nathan Meyer (Iowa City, Iowa/Regina), a communication major with a 3.87 GPA; 
-Junior Tom Nemanich (Red Wing, Minn.), a philosophy and psychology double-major with a 3.63 GPA; 
-Sophomore Max Vogel (Bayport, Minn./Stillwater Area), a computer science major with a 3.82 GPA; 
-Junior Lloyd Young (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy), an accounting major with a 3.91 GPA.

In order to qualify for MIAC Academic All-Conference recognition, student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Transfers must have completed one academic year (full-time) at the institution prior to becoming eligible the following year.

Athletically, student-athletes must be a member of a MIAC-sponsored varsity team, utilize a season of participation (per NCAA and MIAC definitions) and have remained on the sports roster through the conclusion of the sport's season. The MIAC moved away from athletic-specific requirements (i.e. participate in 50 percent of the games, finish in the top 100 at the MIAC Championships, etc.) beginning with the 2021-22 academic year.

For the fourth time in the last seven academic years (and the second consecutive), SJU led the MIAC in male honorees with 59.

The Academic All-MIAC honor is the third in cross country for Goldsmith and the second for Berg, Diekmann, Grand, Hensel, Krause, Lipke, Merickel, Meyer, Nemanich and Young.

Young and Goldsmith earned All-MIAC honors (top 15) by finishing third and eighth, respectively, in the 195-man field at the MIAC Championships, and were All-Region (top 35) in fifth and 26th two weeks later at the NCAA North Regional. Young placed 52nd out of 293 runners Nov. 20 at the NCAA Division III Championships in Louisville, Ky.

As a team, SJU finished third out of 10 teams at the MIAC Championship and ninth out of 31 teams at the NCAA North Regional.