Saint John's cross country begins its 2022 season by hosting Concordia-Moorhead at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at Boulder Ridge Golf Club in St. Cloud.

THE MEET: Saint Ben's hosts the Cobbers and Division II St. Cloud State for a 5k race at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Johnnies and Cobber men for a 6,400-meter/4-mile trek at 10:15 a.m.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's returns six of the seven runners who competed at last year's NCAA Regional, including a national entrant, junior Lloyd Young (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy). Young led SJU with a fifth-place finish (24:43) out of 219 runners at regionals and crossed the finish line 52nd out of 293 runners at the 2021 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. The lone non-returnee, Andy Goldsmith '22, joined Young with All-Region honors (top 35) in 26th place (25:04).

Juniors Tommy Allen (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Academy) and Carter Grove (Osakis, Minn.) followed the All-Region duo in 60th (25:55) and 61st (25:56), respectively, and sophomore Eamon Cavanaugh (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) was the Johnnies' fifth score in 68th (25:59). A pair of seniors, Dillon Diekmann (Lake Elmo, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) and Mitch Grand (Hutchinson, Minn.), completed SJU's contingent in 79th (26:14) and 103rd (26:40).

At the MIAC Championship, Grand was the third Johnnie to finish (after Young and Goldsmith) in 19th (26:06). Grove (Osakis, Minn.) claimed 26th (26:22), followed by Diekmann in 31st (26:32), Cavanaugh in 34th (26:34) and senior Alexei Hensel (Buffalo, Minn.) 37th (26:41).

SEASON NO. 44: The 2022 cross country season is the 44th for Tim Miles as head cross country coach of the Johnnies. Miles' cross country program has finished among the MIAC's top two squads in 24 of the past 42 seasons, including nine MIAC titles (1981, 1982, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2007). He has had 22 cross country teams qualify for the national meet, with 17 recording top-15 finishes. The Johnnies have 36 top-eight finishes at their last 40 NCAA Central Regionals (going back to 1982), including five titles and 25 top-five finishes. SJU placed third out of 10 teams at the MIAC Championship and ninth out of 31 teams at the NCAA North Regional.

THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE: The Johnnies follow Saturday's season opener with the St. Olaf Invitational (Sept. 17) and travel to Wisconsin for two meets - Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invitational (Sept. 30) and Wisconsin-La Crosse Invitational (Oct. 15) - before the MIAC Championship Oct. 29 at the Highland National Golf Complex in St. Paul. SJU hosts its annual Fall Finale Nov. 4 and compete at the NCAA North Regional Nov. 12 at St. Olaf. The 2022 NCAA Division III Championships are Nov. 19 at Forest Akers G.C. in Lansing, Mich.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU was ranked No. 6 out of 10 teams in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) North Region rankings released Aug. 23.

1. UW-La Crosse (No. 6 nationally)
2. UW-Whitewater (No. 9 nationally)
3. St. Olaf (No. 15 nationally)
4. UW-Stout (No. 26 nationally)
5. UW-Eau Claire (No. 30 nationally)
6. SJU
7. Carleton
8. UW-Oshkosh
9. Carthage (Wis.)
10. UW-Platteville

LAST YEAR'S RACE: Nearly uncontested, SJU opened its 2021 season with a four-mile race last Sept. 4 at Boulder Ridge G.C. The 28 Johnnies were joined by three individuals from Trinity Bible (N.D.).

Young led the field with a time of 20:49, followed by Grand in 21:04 and Andy Goldsmith '22 in third (21:29). Four underclassmen rounded out the Johnnies' seven: Allen in fourth (21:47), sophomore Dylan Bartness (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) in fifth (22:01), Grove in sixth (22:09) and Cavanaugh in seventh (22:16).