Saint John's hosts the CSB+SJU Invitational at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, in the Donald McNeely Spectrum. – Live Results

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
4:30 p.m.: High Jump (M/W), Long Jump (W/M), Pole Vault (W/M), Shot Put (W/M), Weight Throw (M/W)     
6:00: Triple Jump (W/M)

Track Events
5:00 p.m.: 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (M/W)
5:15: 60-Meter Dash – Prelims (M/W)
5:30: Mile Run (M/W)
5:45: 400-Meter Dash (M/W)
6:00: 60-Meter Hurdles – Final (W/M)
6:10: 60-Meter Dash – Final (M/W)
6:20: 600 Meters (M/W)
6:30: 800 Meters (M/W)
6:40: 1,000 Meters (M/W)
6:50: 200-Meter Dash (M/W)
7:10: 3,000 Meters (M/W)
7:40: 4x400-Meter Relay (M/W)

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's won its season-opening, four-team meet on Saturday (Jan. 24) in Collegeville. The Johnnies won four events and totaled 17 top-three finishes for 165 points, followed by St. Scholastica (126), Wisconsin-Superior (76) and Minnesota-Morris (12).

The Johnnies recorded the top three times in the mile run, led by junior Cole Stencel's (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) 4:22.07. Junior Lars Molenkamp (Almere, Netherlands/Oostvaarders College) and senior Nick St. Peter (Maple Grove, Minn.) followed in second (4:26.16) and third (4:29.10), respectively.

Like the mile, SJU also claimed the top-three places in the pole vault, all at 4.30 meters. Freshman Austin Mohr (Alexandria, Minn.) cleared the height on his first attempt to win the event, followed by Kole Guth (St. Peter, Minn.) and freshman Alex Chirhart (St. Cloud, Minn./Rocori).

Junior Bangaly Kaba (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) won the triple jump with a mark of 12.82 meters and freshman Aiden Jones (Pierz, Minn.) posted a victory in the 60-meter dash (7.04) with a second-place time in the 200-meter sprint (22.97).

Junior Cooper Smith (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks) and Wyatt Witschen (Monticello, Minn.) led a six-man SJU contingent in the 400-meter dash in second (50.98) and third (51.46), respectively.

Sophomore Grady Minnerath (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) claimed second in the shot put (14.55 meters) and freshmen Ian Mills (Glenwood, Minn./Minnewaska Area) and Josh Pretasky (Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka) finished as a runner-up in the 3,000 meters (9:50.97) and long jump (6.13 meters), respectively.

Three SJU juniors earned third-place finishes:
-Bashir Amoud (St. Paul, Minn./Harding) in the 60-meter hurdles (8.76);
-Kieran Murnan (Lakeville, Minn./Holy Angels) in the 60-meter dash (7.14);
-Connor O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) in the high jump (1.74 meters).

WHO WILL BE HERE: The Johnnies and Bennies are scheduled to be joined Friday by Bethel, Northwestern (Minn.) and Division II St. Cloud State (women).

IN THE MIAC: The Johnnies have 17 top-10 marks/times in the MIAC following their first competition of 2026.

60-Meter Dash
2. Aiden Jones, 7.04
6. Hunter Mohr, 7.10
8. Kieran Murnan, 7.14

200-Meter Dash
4. Aiden Jones, 22.97
10. Andy White, 23.34

400-Meter Dash
4. Cooper Smith, 50.98
6. Wyatt Witschen, 51.46
8. Owen Montreuil, 51.51

Mile
3. Cole Stencel, 4:22.07
8. Lars Molenkamp, 4:26.16

60-Meter Hurdles
8. Bashir Amoud, 8.76
9. Trae Headlee, 8.81

Pole Vault
t4. Alex Chirhart, 4.30m
t4. Kole Guth, 4.30m
t4. Austin Mohr, 4.30m

Triple Jump
7. Bangaly Kaba, 12.82m

Shot Put
4. Grady Minnerath, 14.55m

FEATURE STORY: For Kole Guth, the high (literally) was followed by the low.

It was the spring of 2023 and Guth - then a Johnnie freshman - was competing in the pole vault at the Gustavus Adolphis Twilight Meet in front of his hometown crowd in St. Peter.

He recorded a vault of 15-feet-1 that day, a height that still stands as a personal best.

But just a week later, Guth hurt his knee, an injury with effects that linger to this day.

"The week before was such a fun meet," he recalled. "I'd finally put some stuff together and reached a great height. It was in St. Peter, where I went to high school, and my family, friends and even my old high school coach were there to watch.

"But the next week, as I was jumping, I felt a stinging pain in my knee. It was the start of patellar tendinitis that I've been battling ever since."

Indeed, the injury set the tone for a frustrating sophomore season as Guth worked through pain while trying to get back to the height he'd reached just before getting hurt.

"That whole season I was trying to figure out how to vault while dealing with my knee," he said. "Really, I was just continuing to rehab to get to the point where I was able to go out and compete as best I could."

Things got better, though, during his junior season a year ago. The pain didn't go away, but Guth found a way to approach things better on a mental basis.

"I'd been struggling with a lot of small things, mainly on the mental side, that were limiting how high I could go," he said. "But I kept talking with the coaches, and one day everything seemed to click. I started having the kinds of meets I should have been having all season and that built up a lot of confidence.

"I started to realize not everything has to be perfect. If you trust in your training, relax and take some of the pressure off yourself, you can go out there and do big things."

Which is just what Guth did at the MIAC Outdoor Championship at Macalester where he vaulted to a height of 15-feet, just an inch below his previous personal best and good enough to win his first conference title.

"That was great to see," SJU head coach Jeremy Karger-Gatzow said. "He's a guy who came in with a great work ethic and a good attitude. He never gives up, and those kinds of guys are always going to rise up and meet the challenges in front of them."

Now Guth is ready to begin the process of defending his title, while perhaps adding an indoor conference crown as well. He got off to a good start when the Johnnies opened the season at the CSB+SJU Alumni and Friends Meet on Jan. 24 at the Donald McNeely Spectrum, reaching a height of 14-1 1/4 to finish second overall.

"I don't know if (winning a conference title) has changed my outlook on things that much," he said. "A bit of pressure goes away because you actually accomplished a goal. But there's still the pressure of trying to defend your title. And I'm still trying to beat my personal best.

"Overall, I'm just trying to enjoy this time and have fun. It's my last season of collegiate track and field. So I want to make the most of it."

Athletics has always played a big role in Guth's life. At St. Peter, he was a quarterback and punter in football and a wrestler who worked his way up from 106 pounds when he was younger to 182 pounds by his senior year.

He was also a two-time state meet qualifier in track and field, finishing fourth overall in the pole vault in Class 2A as a senior in the spring of 2022.

The exercise science major hopes that background will serve him well as he pursues a career in sports performance, hopefully in the Mankato-St. Peter area or the south suburbs of the Twin Cities. 

He was a strength and conditioning intern at MSU-Mankato for a summer and is completing an internship at ETS Performance in Sauk Rapids this semester.

"I want to help athletes get stronger and faster and do some coaching on the side," he said. "That's the ultimate goal. I think a lot of the stuff I've gone through, and the lessons I've learned from people I've worked with, have helped prepare me pretty well to work with others."