Dust off those spikes and get ready for the 2026 Alumni Meet! Whether you have been training or not, we would love to see you on Saturday, January 24th. Minimally, come hang out with us to reconnect with old teammates, meet the new team, and hear a few stories from Tim. Here is the link to register: 2026 SJU Alumni Meet Registration
At last year’s alumni meet, we had a great turnout and honored Rocky Schoffman, a legendary masters runner and Johnnie mainstay at our alumni meets. We named the Alumni meet 400 meter race after him. This year, we are dedicating the mile race to David Forster. David graduated from the SJU cross country and track teams in 2011. After college, David continued to run at a high level. In June 2016, David collapsed and passed away suddenly on a training run. For ten years, David’s family has hosted the Finish the Run 5k in David’s honor. We would like to continue to remember David with the “David Forster Alumni Mile.” We will add a specific heat for the alumni or let me know if you are ready to let it rip and want to race the young guys.
The team is finishing up the first week of practice for the 2026 spring semester. It’s been a long holiday break, and I haven’t seen the team in over four weeks. Some of them returned and looked like they had trained diligently. A few of the others may have overestimated the power of youth and assumed they would maintain fitness. Regardless, it’s a long season and I’m excited to get back into the routine.
We graduated several outstanding athletes from last season’s team. It’s a group we are extremely proud to have coached. Not only did they finish fourth at the NCAA National Championships, but they showed tremendous development throughout their four years at SJU. It will be difficult to replace those guys, but we have a good group of freshmen to work well with our returners. In preparation for our kickoff to the season, I’ll highlight some key returners this week and spotlight some freshmen next week.
I hope to see you next week.
Jeremy KG
Top Returners
Max Reis (SO, Spectrum): 3rd at the National Championships (10.35 sec) in the 100m dash and 4x100m relay. Also finished 9th in the long jump (24ft-0.75in) at NCAA’s.
Kieran Murnan (JR, Holy Angels): second leg of the 4x100m relay at the National Championships. 5th at the MIAC Championships in the 100 (10.74).
Cooper Smith (JR, East Grand Forks): 4th at the MIAC Championships in the 400m hurdles in 53.87.
Owen Montreuil (SR, Jordan): 6th in the 800m run at the MIAC Championships in 1:53.66
Cole Stencel (JR, Maple River): 3rd in the 1500m run at the MIAC Championships. Season best of 3:51.59.
Nick St. Peter (SR, Maple Grove): 7th in the 1500m and 8th in the 5k at the MIAC Championships. Season bests of 1:53.01 (800m), 3:54.28 (1500m), and 15:12.38 (5000m).
Vincent Kaluza (JR, Rocori): 6th in the 10k run and 8th in the steeple at the MIAC Championships. Season bests of 32:10.77 (10k) and 9:32.53 (steeplechase).
Josh Johnston (SR, Rocori): 7th at the MIAC Championships in pole vault and a best of 15ft-0in.
Kole Guth (SR, St. Peter): Conference Champion in pole vault and a best of 15ft-0in.
Anthony Sletta (SO, St. James): 3rd at the MIAC Championships in long jump and a best of 23ft-0in.
Grady Minnerath (SO, Rocori): 8th in both the shot put and discus at the MIAC championships. Season bests of 48ft-1in and 153ft-1in.
Mitchell Degen (SR, Brainerd): Conference champion in the javelin with a best of 197ft-4in.
Bailey Evans (SO, Breckenridge): Freshman record holder in the decathlon with 6005 points. Finished 7th at the MIAC Championships.