NCAA Release | Entries

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Saint John's junior Cole Stencel (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) qualified in the mile run for the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships scheduled for this Friday and Saturday, March 13-14, at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.

The NCAA announced the selections tonight (March 8). 

The top 20 marks/times in each individual event, and the top 12 teams in each relay event, advanced to the national meet.

Stencel is the Johnnies' second NCAA indoor qualifier in the mile run and the first since Thomas Feichtinger '16 in 2016. His time of 4:10.26, which converts to 4:07.11 due to Birmingham's banked track, was 23rd in Division III. Ten competitors ahead of Stencel in the mile run elected not to compete in the event at the national meet. The time was also good for fourth and All-North Region honors (top five) and won the MIAC title as a program- and meet-record time two weeks ago. Stencel became the first Johnnie to win the MIAC title in the event since Chris Erichsen '07 in 2006 (4:19.78). He has reset the school record twice this season.

Stencel won his second MIAC indoor title of the weekend with another SJU-record time in the 1,000 meters. His time of 2:27.44 broke the previous record of 2:27.71 set by Feichtinger '16 in 2016.

He also broke the Johnnies' program record in the 3,000 meters at Division I Minnesota's Snowshoe Open in February. 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.

Friday's mile-run prelims at 2:50 p.m. consist of two heats of 10 participants each. The top-four times from each of the two preliminary heats, plus the next-best two times overall, qualify for Saturday's final at 4:10 p.m.

The NCAA appearance is the second of the academic year for Stencel, who finished 148th out of 291 runners at the 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in November.

Stencel is a seven-time All-MIAC honoree: one in cross country (top 15 at the MIAC championship), three in indoor track and two outdoors (top three at the MIAC championships).

The Johnnies' distance medley relay (Nick St. Peter, Cooper Smith, Owen Montreuil, Stencel), which broke the program record with a time of 10:04.84 on Friday (March 6) at Wartburg, was All-Region for the second-straight season in fourth and finished 31st nationally.