CSC Release 

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Four Saint John's student-athletes were named to the 2025-26 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District swimming and diving team on Tuesday, April 7. 

The four Johnnies honored were junior swimmer Trevor Barton (Buffalo, Minn.), sophomore diver Henry Hilgendorf (Owatonna, Minn.), sophomore swimmer Jason Jones (Monticello, Minn.) and junior diver Cody Watts (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech). 

Each institution may nominate up to four student-athletes for Academic All-District recognition in swimming and diving. Nominees must be a sophomore or older with a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. Athletically, nominees must have either finished in the top eight at their respective conference meet or have participated in 75 percent of the team's competitions during the season. 

The CSC Academic All-America teams will be voted on by organization members and announced on Wednesday, April 29. 

The CSC honor is the second for Watts, who is expected to receive his second Academic All-MIAC distinction (minimum 3.5 GPA) this summer. An exercise and health science major (pre-chiropractic emphasis) with a 3.74 GPA, Watts qualified for the NCAA Diving Regional for the second-consecutive season and was an alternate for the 2026 NCAA Division III Championships. He finished eighth in the 1-meter dive (411.65) and 18th on the 3-meter board (381.05) at the regional. Watts is a four-time All-MIAC honoree (top three at the MIAC Championships) after he placed second in the 1-meter dive and third in the 3-meter dive in February. He is a six-time MIAC Diving Athlete of the Week, including four in 2025-26, and was a 2024-25 College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) Scholar All-America second-team honoree. 

Barton is an environmental studies major with a 4.0 GPA. He claimed fifth in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:56.83), sixth in the 500-yard (4:47.38) version and 11th in the 400-yard individual medley (4:21.70) at the 2026 MIAC Championships. 

A global business leadership major with a 3.92 GPA, Hilgendorf finished fifth in both the 1- (351.40) and 3-meter (342.95) dives at the conference meet after placing seventh in both events as a freshman in 2025. He was named the MIAC Diver of the Week Feb. 3 after he led the Division III competitors at the St. Cloud State Diving Invitational, posting an 11-dive score of 391.35 on the 1-meter board to finish third overall. 

Jones took 12th in both the 100- (1:00.03) and 200-yard (2:13.80) breaststrokes at the 2026 MIAC Championships and qualified for the academic honor by competing in eight of the 10 intercollegiate meets in 2025-26. He is a political science major with a 4.0 GPA. 

The Johnnies finished third out of six teams Feb. 11-14 at the 2026 MIAC Championships and tied for 37th out of 46 teams March 18-21 at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. Senior Brayden Slavik (Green Isle, Minn./Chaska) ended his decorated career with a third-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. The third-place finish was the best by a Johnnie at the NCAA Championships since Luke Prokop '05 took third in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2005. The lone senior in the race's top 10, Slavik claimed third with an MIAC- and program-record time of 15:26.52, which was nearly six full seconds faster than his 15:32.16 that he used to win his third-straight MIAC title in the event. The 15:32.16 was also a meet-, SJU- and MIAC-record time at the time. Slavik's time of 9:17.17 at the 1,000-yard mark was also an MIAC record. 

The All-America honor was the second for Slavik, who was named the MIAC Men's Swimmer of the Year for the second-straight season in 2025-26 and earned All-America honorable mention with a 15th-place finish in the event at last year's NCAA Championships.