NCAA Entrants
 
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Four Saint John's University track and field student-athletes qualified for the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships scheduled for next Thursday-Saturday (May 21-23) at the Veteran's Memorial Field Sports Complex in La Crosse, Wis.
 
The NCAA announced the selections tonight (May 15).
 
The Johnnies competing are:
 
-Senior Mitchell Degen (Brainerd, Minn.) in the javelin;
-Sophomore Bailey Evans (Breckenridge, Minn.) in the decathlon;
-Junior Cooper Smith (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks) in the 400-meter hurdles;
-Junior Cole Stencel (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) in the 1,500 meters.

The top 22 marks/times in each individual event, and the top 16 teams in each relay event, advanced to the national meet.

Degen
Degen won his second-consecutive MIAC outdoor title in the javelin on May 8 with a personal-best throw of 65.87 meters. The distance ranked seventh in Division III and first in the region for his second-straight All-Region honor.

He is the sixth Johnnie and ninth overall to qualify for nationals in the javelin, and the first since school record-holder Brett Hague earned his second All-America honor in the event with a seventh-place finish in 2023. The javelin is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday (May 23) morning.

Evans
Evans qualified for nationals in the decathlon with 6,592 points, which he used to win the MIAC title two weeks ago (April 30-May 1). He is the sixth Johnnie and eighth overall to win the MIAC decathlon. The total was seventh-best in the region and 20th in Division III.
 
He is the seventh Johnnie to qualify for nationals in the decathlon – 10th appearance overall – and the program's fourth in the last five seasons: Dan Besemann '96 in 1994 and 1995 (seventh), Steve Kimble '99 in 1998 and 1999 (sixth), Phil Barry '00 in 2000, Brayden Wagner '09 in 2009 (sixth), Maguire Petersen '22 in 2022 (fifth) and Max Lelwica '25 in 2024 and 2025 (third). The Division III decathlon begins at 10 a.m. on both Thursday and Friday next week. 
 
-Thursday (May 21): 100-meter dash (10 a.m.), long jump (~10:45 a.m.), shot put (~noon), high jump (~1:45 p.m.) and 400-meter dash (~3:45 p.m.)
 
-Friday (May 22): 110-meter hurdles (10 a.m.), discus (~10:50 a.m.), pole vault (~12:30 p.m.), javelin (~4 p.m.) and 1,500 meters (~5:45 p.m.)

Smith
Smith ran a personal-best and facility-record time of 52.75 seconds to claim SJU's first conference title in the 400-meter hurdles since 2018 on May 9. The time was fifth in the region and 20th nationally. He is the fourth Johnnie and fifth overall to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles, and the first since Michael Leither '07 was the national runner-up in 2007.

The event's prelims are scheduled for 5:25 p.m. Thursday and will consist of three heats, two comprised of seven participants and one of eight. The winner from each of the three prelims, plus the next best six times, qualify for Saturday's final at 3:25 p.m.

Stencel
Stencel broke the program record last night (May 14) in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:47.29 at Wisconsin-La Crosse's Last-Chance Qualifier. The previous record of 3:48.86 was set by Thomas Feichtinger '16 in 2015. The new record was good for fourth-best in the region and 17th in Division III. Stencel claimed the MIAC title in both the 1,500 and 5,000 meters last week.

He is the eighth Johnnie and 10th overall to qualify for nationals in the 1,500 meters, and the first since Feichtinger in 2016. Stencel is the first Johnnie since Feichtinger in 2015-16 to qualify for the NCAA Championship in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor in the same academic year.

The event's two 11-man prelims begin at 4:50 p.m. Thursday. The top-four times in each prelim, plus the next best four times overall, qualify for Saturday's final at 1:35 p.m.

All-Region
Degen, Evans, Smith, Stencel and the Johnnies' 4x100-meter relay (Aiden Jones, Anthony Ferrante, Derek Guth, Kieran Murnan) were named 2026 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-North Region – top eight – in their respective events. The 4x100-meter relay's time of 41.21 seconds recorded April 16 in Collegeville was sixth in the region and 51st nationally.