MIAC Release
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Three Saint John's University student-athletes – junior distance runner
Tommy Allen (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Academy), senior defender
Aidan Becken (Prior Lake, Minn.) and junior golfer
Nate Loxtercamp (Richmond, Minn./Melrose Area) – earned the MIAC's Elite 22 Award for their respective sports on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
Modeled after the NCAA Elite 90 Award, the MIAC Elite 22 Award for cross country is presented to the individual with the highest GPA among the student-athletes who achieved All-MIAC honors (top 15 individuals, including ties) at the MIAC Championships; to the highest GPA among the All-MIAC honorees (top 10 individuals, including ties) in golf; and to the highest GPA among the six teams that reached the MIAC Playoffs for soccer. The honoree must be a junior or senior and in at least his second season of competition with his current team. The total number of credits completed served as the tie-breaker.
The MIAC Elite 22 Award is the third for Allen, who achieved the honor for both indoor and outdoor track and field last spring. He finished 14th out of 169 runners at the 2022 MIAC Championships on Oct. 29 and is a biochemistry major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 4.0 GPA. In track and field, Allen won the 800 meters as the Johnnies claimed their 13th outdoor team title in May and achieved two All-MIAC honors (top three individually, champion relay) - second in the 1,000 meters and third in the 800 meters - as SJU won its first MIAC indoor title in late February.
Allen was the Johnnies' second finisher, 49th out of 209 participants, last Saturday (Nov. 12) at the NCAA North Regional, where SJU placed seven out of 28 teams. Classmate
Lloyd Young (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) earned his second-consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Championships and races at 11 a.m. CT this Saturday, Nov. 19, at Forest Akers G.C. in East Lansing, Mich.
A biology major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 4.0 GPA, Becken was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2021 and is a two-time Academic All-District honoree. The 6-foot-5 defender played 17 games this fall and totaled five points (2g/1a), including game-winning goals Sept. 28 vs. Concordia and Oct. 15 at Hamline. He was All-MIAC honorable mention in 2021 and 2022, and will earn his third Academic All-MIAC honor in January. Becken ended his career with 13 points (5g/3a) and three game-winners in 45 contests.
The Johnnies finished sixth in the conference with a 4-5-1 record (8-7-3 overall) and made their 11th trip to the semifinals in 12 MIAC Playoff appearances in 2022.
An accounting major with a 4.0 GPA, Loxtercamp became the 13th Johnnie to earn medalist honors at the MIAC Championships with a three-round total of 210 (-6) as SJU overcame a 10-shot deficit at the start of the final round to win its third consecutive title by 13 strokes at the 2022 MIAC Championships in early October. The win clinched SJU's 20th appearance at the NCAA Division III Championships scheduled for May 16-19 at Keene Trace G.C. in Nicholasville, Ky. Loxtercamp ended the fall schedule with a 72.9 average in 13 rounds, including six rounds at par or better, and earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award at the 2022 NCAA Championships in May.
