USTFCCCA Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University cross country team and four of its student-athletes earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honors on Thursday, Jan. 26.

A total of 189 men's programs earned the Division III team honor. To qualify as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team, the team must record a cumulative team GPA of 3.10 or better. Thirty-one Johnnies combined for a cumulative team GPA of 3.72.

Four Johnnies received individual recognition from the USTFCCCA:

-Junior Tommy Allen (Woodbury, Minn./St. Paul Academy), a biochemistry major (pre-medicine emphasis) with a 4.0 GPA;
-Senior Dillon Diekmann (Lake Elmo, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), an accounting major with a 3.94 GPA;
-Junior Carter Grove (Osakis, Minn.), a computer science major with a 4.0 GPA;
-Junior Lloyd Young (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy), an accounting major with a 3.92 GPA.

In order to qualify for All-Academic distinction, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 on a 4.0 scale and finish in the top-25 percent of their respective regional championship meet.

Each of the four Johnnies collected their third Academic All-MIAC distinction yesterday (Jan. 25).

Young (fourth), Diekmann (11th), Grove (13th) and Allen (14th) earned All-MIAC honors (top 15) out of 169 runners Oct. 29 at the MIAC Championships and Young finished 10th to collect his second-consecutive All-Region distinction (top 35) two weeks later at the NCAA North Regional. 

Young earned All-America honors, the 25th in program history and the Johnnies' first since Chris Erichsen '08 in 2007 (third place), by placing 40th out of 294 runners Nov. 19 at the NCAA Division III Championships in East Lansing, Mich.

As a team, SJU finished second out of 11 teams at the MIAC Championship and seventh out of 28 teams at the NCAA Regional this fall.