Results (Minnesota) | Results (MSU-Mankato)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Saint John's junior Cole Stencel (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) broke the Johnnies' program record in the 3,000 meters at Division I Minnesota's Snowshoe Open on Friday, Feb. 20.

Stencel crossed the finish line in 8:19.52 to finish third overall, first among Division III competitors. He burned to a 31.27 in the final lap to shatter his personal-best time of 8:58.27 and break the previous record of 8:22.4 set by Jim Gathje '86 – a four-time All-American and two-time national champion in the steeplechase – in 1985.

He was the fastest Division III finisher in the race, topping six runners from Division I St. Thomas and a pair of Division II athletes. He has now set a personal best in his last three races and a school record in two of the last three.

Stencel broke SJU's record in the mile run Feb. 7 on the same track at the Minnesota's Gopher Classic with a time of 4:10.42, which is logged as a 4:07.26 after a banked-track conversion. The converted time will serve as his qualifying mark for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships since the national meet will be held on a banked surface.

The other Johnnie at the Snowshoe Open, senior Nick St. Peter (Maple Grove, Minn.), finished ninth, first among Division III runners, with a season-best time of 4:22.02 in the mile run.

Division II MSU-Mankato's Maverick Open
The rest of the SJU track and field team recorded 19 top-10 marks/times Friday at Division II MSU-Mankato's Maverick Open.

Sophomore Anthony Sletta (St. James, Minn.) led SJU, and the Division III participants in the long jump, with a third-place mark of 6.54 meters and classmate Bailey Evans (Breckenridge, Minn.) was fifth (6.43 meters).

Freshman Nolan Pfeilsticker (Plainview, Minn./Plainview-Elgin-Millville) claimed fourth in the 800 meters (2:01.69) and sophomore Zander Olmschenk (Sauk Centre, Minn.) was sixth (2:03.38).

Freshman Aiden Jones (Pierz, Minn.) took fifth in the 60-meter dash in 7.04 seconds, while sophomore Grady Minnerath (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) and junior Rylan Turqueza (Ewa Beach, Hawaii/Radford) were seventh (15.03 meters) and ninth (13.99 meters) in the weight throw. Minnerath was also seventh in the shot put (15.64 meters).

Senior Jacob Malecha (Lonsdale, Minn./New Prague) was seventh in the mile run (4:35.87) and junior Peyton Martinek (Coon Rapids, Minn.) was 10th (4:37.92).

Three Johnnies finished in the pole vault's top 10, led by freshman Alex Chirhart (St. Cloud, Minn./Rocori) in seventh (4.38 meters). Freshman Austin Mohr (Alexandria, Minn.) and senior Josh Johnston (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) followed in ninth and 10th, respectively, at 4.23 meters.

Senior Aiden Langheim (Jordan, Minn.) finished seventh in the 600 meters (1:28.00) and freshman Ryan Becker (Shakopee, Minn.) was just behind him in 10th (1:28.60).

A pair of juniors, Kieran Murnan (Lakeville, Minn./Holy Angels) and Cooper Smith (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks), were eighth (22.62) and 10th (22.67) in the 200-meter dash.

Two others – junior Connor O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) and freshman Raegan Lopez (Lakeville, Minn./North) – were ninth in the ninth in the high jump (1.82 meters) and 3,000 meters (9:22.39), respectively.

SJU competes at the 2026 MIAC Indoor Championships next Friday-Saturday, Feb. 27-28, at Carleton in Northfield. The meet begins with the first part of the heptathlon at 2:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26. The heptathlon resumes at 10 a.m. Friday, followed by the first day of full competition at 4 p.m. Saturday's action begins with field events at 11:45 a.m. and on the track at 1 p.m.