Saint John's cross country races at the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at Whitetail G.C. in Colfax, Wis. – Live Results

START TIME MOVED UP DUE TO FORECAST: Friday's races were scheduled to be held in the late afternoon and evening, but were moved up to 9:30 a.m. (Varsity 8k) and 11 a.m. (Open 8k) due to the heat forecast for the day.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's finished third out of nine teams at the MIAC Preview back on Sept. 12 at the Highland 9 G.C. in St. Paul. Macalester won the meet with 45 points thanks to all five scorers finishing in places 7-11. Carleton was second (54), followed by SJU (73), Gustavus Adolphus (129) and St. Scholastica (135). The Highland 9 G.C. will serve as the site of the 2025 MIAC Championships on Nov. 1.

The reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week at the time, junior Cole Stencel (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) finished second overall out of 116 competitors behind 2024 NCAA Division III runner-up and three-time MIAC champion Mohammed Bati of Augsburg, who won the race in 25:19.0. Stencel ran a 26:14.7 to lead the Johnnies for the second week in a row. 

Senior Eamon Cavanaugh (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) followed closely behind Stencel in third with a time of 26:55.6. Cavanaugh jumped up three spots in the final 3,000 meters. 

Sophomore Collin Berg (Buffalo, Minn.) and senior Jacob Malecha (Lonsdale, Minn./New Prague) crossed the line next for the Johnnies, finishing 20th (27:55.5) and 21st (27:57.0), respectively. Malecha passed nine runners on the leaderboard after the 2.5k mark and eight more in his final 3,000. 

Junior Peyton Martinek (Coon Rapids, Minn.) finished 32nd for the Johnnies in 28:24.1, followed by junior Lars Molenkamp (Almere, Netherlands/Oostvaarders College) in 33rd (28:31.7).

WHO WILL BE THERE: The Johnnies and host Blugolds are scheduled to be joined on the men's side by Augsburg, Bethany Lutheran, Bethel, Carleton, Carthage (Wis.), Concordia (Wis.), Concordia-Moorhead, Division II Concordia-St. Paul, Dubuque (Iowa), Hamline, No. 12 Hope (Mich.), Lakehead (Ontario), Macalester, Martin Luther, Division I Minnesota, Division II Minnesota-Crookston, Division II Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota-Morris, North Central (Minn.), Northwestern (Minn.), Ripon (Wis.), Saint Mary's, St. Norbert (Wis.), No. 11 St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, Division I St. Thomas, Suffolk (Mass.), Viterbo (Wis.), No. 1 Wisconsin-La Crosse, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, No. 24 Wisconsin-Platteville, Wisconsin-River Falls, No. 17 Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Stout, Wisconsin-Superior, No. 14 Wisconsin-Whitewater and Wisconsin Lutheran. 

LAST YEAR'S RACE: SJU finished fourth out of 13 teams at last year's Blugold Invitational on Oct. 4 (2024). Top-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse won the meet with 28 points, followed by the 27th-ranked Blugolds (57), Wisconsin-Stout (61), SJU (110) and Division I Marquette (147).

Junior Vincent Kaluza (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) led SJU in 10th place out of 225 runners, seventh among collegiate participants, with an 8k time of 25:08.

Cavanaugh followed in 21st (25:28), while Stencel and senior Nick St. Peter (Maple Grove, Minn.) crossed the finish line in 27th (25:38) and 46th (26:04), respectively. Malecha rounded out the Johnnies' five in 56th (26:20).