Saint John's track and field opens its 2026 season by hosting its alumni and three schools at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, in the Donald McNeely Spectrum. – Live Results
 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
-11:00 a.m.: Long Jump (W/M), Triple Jump (W/M), Pole Vault (W/M), High Jump (M/W), Shot Put (W/M), Weight Throw (M/W)
 
Track Events
-11:00 a.m.: 60-Meter Hurdles – Finals (M – one heat)
-11:10: 60-Meter Hurdles - Prelims (W)
-11:20: 60-Meter Dash - Prelims (M/W)
-11:40: Mile Run "The David Forster Mile" (M/W)
-12:10 p.m.: 60-Meter Hurdles - Finals (W)
-12:15: 60-Meter Dash - Finals (M/W)
-12:25: Kids 60-Meter Dash (All Kids Welcome)
-12:35: 400-Meter Dash "The Rocky Schoffman 400" (M/W)
-12:55: 800 Meters (M/W)
-1:10: 200-Meter Dash (M/W)
-1:40: 3,000 Meters (M/W)
-2:10: 4x400-Meter Relay (M)
-2:25: 4x200-Meter Relay (W)
 
WHO WILL BE HERE: The Bennies and Johnnies are scheduled to be joined Saturday by Minnesota-Morris, St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Superior.
 
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnie track and field team looks to claim its first MIAC indoor title since 2022 with an eight-week, 10-meet indoor winter season. 
 
Saint John's finished ranked as high as 16th nationally (eighth regionally) and finished 25th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national indoor polls last season. 
 
SJU took third at last year's indoor meet and second – by half of a point – at the MIAC outdoor championships in May.
 
The Johnnies are down four indoor All-Americans from a year ago – national high jump runner-up Jackson McDowell '25, heptathletes Max Lelwica '25 and Anthony Thurk '25, and long jumper Zach Schaffer '25 – but return sophomore sprinter Max Reis (West Fargo, N.D./Spectrum), who emerged as a three-time winner of the honor in the outdoor season. Reis is joined by junior Kieran Murnan (Lakeville, Minn./Holy Angels), who, alongside Reis, contributed to SJU's third-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay at the NCAA outdoor championship in May.
Five schools in the MIAC return an indoor All-American, including three from 2025 MIAC champions Bethel (sprinters Landen Liu, Victor Lelinga and Grant Nelson). St. Olaf (distance runner Kevin Turlington and long jumper Max Albertson), Concordia (thrower Cooper Folkestad) and St. Scholastica (thrower Trent Beseth) each have an indoor All-American on their 2026 rosters as well. Three more returners from Bethel, which finished behind Saint John's in sixth at the national outdoor meet last season, were All-Americans in the outdoor season, while Hamline (2), SJU (2), Concordia (1) and St. Olaf (1) had additional outdoor honorees. 

In regard to team scoring, the Johnnies return 56.1 percent (50.5 of 90) of their indoor points and 50.1 percent (89 of 177.5) of their outdoor points from 2025.

To the Max
Reis became a steady competitor in the jumps and sprints last season, logging three top-five finishes at the MIAC Indoor Championships last February. He was the runner-up in the 60-meter dash by 0.04 of a second with a 6.78, tying Kevin Arthur's '25 school record. He also placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 6.83 meters, five inches from third place and All-MIAC honors. He was also fifth in the 200-meter dash with a 22.36.

Murnan Burnin' the Track
Murnan provided depth for SJU in the short sprints last indoor season, finishing just shy of the finals in the 60- and 200-meter races. He found his stride in the outdoor season, though, finishing fifth in the 100-meter and earning All-America laurels as the second leg of SJU's 4x100-meter relay team.

Cole on a Roll
Junior Cole Stencel (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) emerged as one of the top competitors in the 2025 MIAC cross country field, taking fourth among the distance runners at the conference meet in November. He was an All-MIACand All-Region selection in the fall, advancing to the national championships where he finished 148th out of 291 runners. He achieved his personal best time of 25:26.5 at the MIAC meet and led SJU in all six varsity races this fall. Stencel helped Saint John's break its distance medley relay in the indoor season with a MIAC Championship-worthy performance of 10:17.48. He was also All-MIAC honorable mention in the 1,000-meter with a personal-best 2:31.11.

Smith on the Hurdles
Junior Cooper Smith (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks) was one of SJU's top hurdlers last season, earning All-Conference honorable mention honors with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at the outdoor championship with a personal-best 53.87 in the event. Although, he missed last season's indoor championship, Smith was a leg of SJU's second-place 4x400-meter relay in May and is a three-time All-MIAC performer. 

Close to the Title
Senior Owen Montreuil (Jordan, Minn.) earned his fourth All-MIAC honor in the indoor season with a second-place finish in the 600 meters with a time of 1:21.88, 0:00.20 from Macalester's Kalid Ali and the title. He was the third leg of the Johnnies' All-Region and MIAC-championship distance medley relay team and is SJU's top returning mid-distance runner. 

Matt's Got a Kick
Junior All-MIAC kicker/punter Matt Hansen (Longmont, Colo./Niwot) is nowhere near done with his athletic season, returning for his third year of track and field after leading MIAC football in scoring – among kickers – in points (76) and made PAT's (61-for-61), both of which were MIAC records for conference play. Hansen finished 77-for-77 on PATs overall, and his 77 extra points were an SJU single-season record. He also averaged 36.3 yards on 22 punts, 11 of which landed inside the opposition's 20-yard line and seven were fair caught. Hansen ran the football team's fastest 40-yard dash and was a leg of SJU's outdoor championship 4x100-meter relay team. He earned points in three indoor events, placing fourth with the 4x200-meter relay team and fifth in the 4x400-meter relay. He was .01 away from a personal best in the long jump, taking seventh with a leap of 6.64 meters.

Reaching New Heights
After finishing seventh in the pole vault in the MIAC indoor meet last year, senior Kole Guth (St. Peter, Minn.) added .40 to his mark to win the title at the outdoor meet last May. He was a steady performer last season and has scored points in all five of his MIAC appearances with two All-MIAC honors and three honorable mentions.

Senior Josh Johnston (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) posted four different top-five performances on the pole vault last season, including a personal best in April of 4.57 meters. He was 10th at the indoor conference meet and improved his mark to score points at the outdoor championship with a 4.27 vault for seventh. 

Multi-Talented
Saint John's swept the multi events at the indoor and outdoor MIAC meets last season and earned three All-MIAC, two All-Region and three All-America honors across the 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons. Sophomore Bailey Evans (Breckenridge, Minn.), who set the SJU freshman record in the decathlon last season, is the hopeful to accept the passing of the torch from Lelwica and Thurk. Evans took first in the MIAC heptathlon's 60-meter dash (7.19) and second in the shot put (11.73 meters) a year ago and took ninth overall. He was seventh in decathlon to earn team points at the outdoor meet with five top-five finishes, taking first in the 100-meter (11.22), second in the shot put (12.13 meters), third in the discus throw (36.06 meters), fourth in the high jump (1.71 meters) and fifth in the javelin throw (45.51 meters).