Results

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's track and field won seven events and recorded 19 top-five finishes at its outdoor opener – the CSB/SJU Optimistic Invitational – on Friday, March 28, in Clemens Stadium.

SJU did not have a competitor in three events - the 800 meters, steeplechase or 5,000 meters – in the unscored meet.

Sophomore Cole Stencel (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) and junior Nick St. Peter (Maple Grove, Minn.) virtually tied for the win in the 1,500 meters – Stencel in 4:02.065 and St. Peter at 4:02.069 – and four other Johnnies claimed victories.

Senior Jackson McDowell (Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe), fresh off his runner-up finish at the 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, won the high jump with a mark of 2.06 meters. Another SJU All-American from two weeks ago (16th in the long jump), senior Zach Schaffer (Chaska, Minn.) won the event Friday with a leap of 6.88 meters. Schaffer's distance was half an inch ahead of sophomore Matt Hansen (Longmont, Colo./Niwot) in second (6.87 meters).

Junior Mitchell Degen (Brainerd, Minn.) placed first in the javelin throw (60.15 meters), while McDowell was fifth (49.99 meters), and sophomore Andrew Withuski (Wahpeton, N.D.) won the pole vault with a height of 4.29 meters.

SJU's 4x100- (42.86; Popoca, Blake, Moberg, Morey) 4x400-meter (3:28.72; Becker, Allen, Langheim, Montreuil) relays took first.

Senior Eamon Cavanaugh (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) was second in the 10,000 meters (31:38.05) and senior Joe Mensen (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray) claimed third in the weight throw (47.74 meters).

Senior Kevin Arthur (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) and sophomore Wyatt Witschen (Monticello, Minn.) were third (49.94) and fourth (49.99), respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Freshman Jacob Sterk (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) placed third, first among NCAA Division III competitors, in the 400-meter hurdles (57.91) and senior Pierre Deutschlander (Maple Grove, Minn.) was fourth (59.01).

Sophomore Kieran Murnan (Lakeville, Minn./Holy Angels) finished fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.13 seconds and Hansen was fifth (11.24), 0.01 ahead of junior Aidan Morey (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) in sixth (11.25). Sophomore Bangaly Kaba (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) claimed fifth, third among Division III participants, in the triple jump (12.63 meters).

The Johnnies travel to St. Paul for the Hamline Invitational at 11 a.m. next Saturday, April 5.