Saint John's cross country returns to action with Wisconsin-La Crosse's Jim Drews Invitational at noon Saturday, Oct. 15, at Maple Grove Venues, LLC in West Salem, Wis. – Live Results

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's finished fourth out of 26 teams at Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Blugold Invitational two weeks ago (Sept. 30) at Whitetail G.C. in Colfax, Wis. Then-No. 17 St. Olaf won the race with 44 points, followed by then-No. 26 Wisconsin-Stout (71), then-No. 30 UWEC (124), SJU (130) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh (158). Each team's top-five finishers contributed to the team score.

A national entrant last fall, junior Lloyd Young (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) made his 2022 debut and finished seventh out of 406 runners - sixth among NCAA Division III participants - with an 8k time of 25:03.

Junior Carter Grove (Osakis, Minn.) was 53rd at the 5k mark and moved up 28 spots to finish 25th (25:43). Sophomore Eamon Cavanaugh (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) followed in 34th (25:53), while junior Tommy Allen (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Academy) and senior Dillon Diekmann (Lake Elmo, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) crossed the finish line in 41st (25:59) and 43rd (26:01), respectively.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU moved up one spot to No. 6 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) North Region rankings released Oct. 4 and stayed there in the latest list posted Tuesday (Oct. 11).

1. Wisconsin-La Crosse (No. 5 nationally)
2. Wisconsin-Whitewater (No. 10 nationally)
3. St. Olaf (No. 16 nationally)
4. Wisconsin-Stout (No. 24 nationally)
5. Wisconsin-Eau Claire (No. 32 nationally)
6. SJU
7. Wisconsin-Oshkosh
8. Carleton
9. Carthage, Wis.
10. Wisconsin-Stevens Point

FRIDAY IN BADGER COUNTRY: Young is scheduled to compete in the B race at Division I Wisconsin's Nuttycombe Invitational at 11 a.m. today (Friday, Oct. 14) on the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis.

WHO WILL BE THERE SATURDAY: The Johnnies and host Eagles are scheduled to be joined Saturday by student-athletes from Augsburg, Aurora (Ill.), Bethany Lutheran, Bethel, Carleton, Concordia-Moorhead, Division II Concordia-St. Paul, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline, Iowa Central C.C., Lake Forest (Ill.), Luther (Iowa), Macalester, Minnesota Running Club, Division II Minnesota-Crookston, Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.), Nebraska Wesleyan, Paradise Valley C.C. (Ariz.), Saint Mary's, St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, Division II Upper Iowa, NAIA Viterbo (Wis.), Wheaton (Ill.), Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Platteville, Wisconsin-River Falls, Wisconsin-Whitewater and the Wisconsin Track Club.

THREE YEARS AGO: SJU finished 12th out of 21 teams at the 2019 Jim Drews Invitational at Ettrick G.C. in Ettrick, Wis. The host Eagles, who were ranked No. 16 nationally at the time, won the 8k race with a total of 54 points. Then-No. 19 St. Olaf took second (75 points), followed by Iowa Central C.C. (105), Luther of Iowa (133) and Nebraska Wesleyan (169).

Trey Collins '20 led SJU in 34th, 26th among NCAA Division III runners, with a time of 25:58. The Johnnies claimed 12th with 335 points, six points behind Dubuque (Iowa) in 11th. 

Senior Tom Nemanich (Red Wing, Minn.) followed in 61st overall (26:19), while Noah Webb '21 and senior Mitch Grand (Hutchinson, Minn.) crossed the finish line 90th (26:44) and 126th (27:12), respectively. Andy Goldsmith '22 rounded out the Johnnies' five in 132nd (27:17).