Four Saint John's University track and field student-athletes compete at the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships this Thursday-Saturday (May 21-23) at the Veteran's Memorial Field Sports Complex in La Crosse, Wis. – Live Results | Live Video

THE SCHEDULE: The Johnnies are scheduled to compete at the following times this week/weekend.

Thursday (all times CT)
-10 a.m.: Decathlon (Day 1): 100-meter dash, long jump (~10:45 a.m.), shot put (~noon), high jump (~1:45 p.m.) and 400-meter dash (~3:45 p.m.)
    *Evans

-4:50 p.m.: 1,500 Meters (Prelims)
    *Stencel

-5:25 p.m.: 400-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
     *Smith

Friday (all times CT)
-10 a.m.: Decathlon (Day 2): 110-meter hurdles, discus (~10:50 a.m.), pole vault (~12:30 p.m.), javelin (~4 p.m.) and 1,500 meters (~5:45 p.m.)
    *Evans

Saturday (all times CT)
-11:00 a.m.: Javelin
     *Degen
-1:35 p.m.: 1,500 Meters (Final)
-3:25 p.m.: 400-Meter Hurdles (Final)

THE QUALIFIERS: 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. 

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). 

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.

FEATURE STORY: Success oftentimes begets success.
 
That's certainly been the case in the multi-events for the Saint John's University track and field program.
 
Johnnie athletes have qualified for the Division III indoor and outdoor national meets 13 times in either the heptathlon (indoors) or the decathlon (outdoors), including seven times in the past five seasons alone.
 
Sophomore Bailey Evans is the latest to join that group, securing a spot in this weekend's NCAA Division III outdoor meet after winning an MIAC title in the decathlon with a score of 6,592 points two weeks ago.
 
"We've had a lot of great athletes here and being around people like that makes you want to evolve and get better too," Evans said. "Sometimes you don't even realize it. But when you're working out with other high-caliber athletes every day, you're all pushing one another to get better. It brings up the level for everyone and you improve a lot more than you would if you had to do all this on your own."
 
For Evans, that push was provided by Max Lelwica '25 and Anthony Thurk '25, seniors on the Johnnie roster a year ago. The duo each qualified for the Division III indoor meet in the heptathlon in 2025, earning second-team All-American honors with ninth and 14th-place finishes, respectively. 
 
Lelwica also qualified for outdoor nationals in the decathlon in both 2024 and '25 – finishing third overall a year ago.
 
"To come in as a freshman and get to train with guys like that made a huge difference," Evans recalled. "They'd both pass along little tips in practice and during competitions. The heptathlon and decathlon are such unique events. There are so many different things going on, and having veterans who have done it a lot of times before helps so much. I got a really great education just being around them.
 
"They're still helping me now," he continued. "We've stayed in contact. They watch the results and offer advice. I was struggling a little with my hurdles earlier this season. Max came to our alumni meet and helped me break down some small technical things during warmups. I owe a lot to both those guys."

"It was a tremendous benefit for Bailey to have learned from Max and Anthony last year," added SJU assistant coach Joe Vardas, who works with the team's multi-event athletes. "It was important to see their work ethic and what kind of effort is necessary to become a national caliber decathlete.  

"He is a student of the sport much like they were.   It was also important for him to see how they carried themselves on and off the track."

 Their influence played a big role in the progress Evans made this season, culminating in his victory at the conference meet, which made him the sixth Johnnie (and eighth overall) to earn an MIAC decathlon title.

 "I really wanted to get to indoor nationals (in the heptathlon), but I had a tough (indoor) conference meet in the hurdles and things didn't go as planned," Evans said. "As soon as we got outdoors, though, it seemed to pick up right away. I started the outdoor season with two PRs (personal records) and kept moving.
 
"I opened really well on the first day of the MIAC meet. The second day wasn't as great. I struggled a little in the pole vault and my score took a hit. But luckily, I did well enough everywhere else make up for it. 
 
"Winning the conference meet had been a big goal for me coming into the season," he added. "So it felt really great to get that accomplished."
 
His conference-winning score was good enough to seed him 19th in the 22-person national meet field. Central (Iowa) junior Kale Hobart is seeded first with a score of 7,580, but Evans is just nine points shy of 16th-seeded Cavan Dobberstein, a Wisconsin-Oshkosh junior. 

The top 16 finishers in each individual event earn All-American first- and second-team honors. Competition in the men's decathlon is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Thursday (May 20) and conclude Friday (May 21). Five events are scheduled each day.
 
"I never went to state in high school," said Evans, a Breckenridge High School graduate. "It was always a goal, but I never accomplished it. So to get to nationals so early in my college career – after all the hard work I've put in – is something that really means a lot to me."
 
Evans originally came to SJU to play football. But once on campus, he realized he had unfinished business in track and field as well.
 
"I wasn't ready to give it up yet, so during the fall of my freshman year, I'd go down to the track and do some vaulting and hurdling stuff on my own," he said. "Then track season started and I instantly got hooked on the multi-events. Things went so well I decided to give up football this past fall and focus on getting ready for track. All that extra training has helped a lot."
 
Away from the track, Evans is a physics major eyeing a future career in engineering.
 
"I like the problem-solving aspect of it," he said. "That's kind of how I approach track as well. If my form is off, I have to break it down to the bones and see what's going on. I get kind of obsessed with the process of getting better. 
 
"The multi-events can be a lot if you're not mentally prepared for it. There are so many components to it and so many things that can go wrong. What I love, though, is that there are so many things to focus on. There's always another problem to solve. I never get bored."
 
Now, the next problem facing Evans is how to compete against the nation's best this weekend.
 
"We made the decision not to enter a last-chance meet and just let my score from conferences ride," he said. "Fortunately, it was enough to get me in. 

"Now I'm here. I might as well make the most of the opportunity and do something big."