Johnnie cross country finishes ninth of 32 teams; prepares for MIACs

The SJU cross country team has been hitting its stride this fall and is preparing for the MIAC Championships approaching at the end of October.  

Last weekend, the Johnnies sent 12 runners to Salem, Ore. where they took ninth out of 30 teams in the George Oja Invitational hosted by Linfield University. Senior Cole Stencel made history for SJU, recording the fastest 8K in school history with a time of 23:55.3 to finish eighth out of 401 competitors.  

“Our race in Oregon was certainly a step forward for our group,” head coach Maxwell Kuzara said via email. “We were pleased with where we placed as a team and how our guys ran the race. It tells us that we are moving in the right direction as we enter the championship season — but we’re not done yet.”  

Stencel, who has taken home MIAC Athlete of the Week honors in four of the five weeks this season, says he was pleased with his performance.

“Everything kind of ended up perfect,” Stencel said. “I got out to where I wanted to be and was able to slowly work up. We call it “Johnnie in the smoke:” start off the race controlled and then the last half of the race you’re going and passing people, and that’s exactly how it ended up.” 

While Stencel knew he was one of the top-finishers, he did not initially believe his time was as good as it was. 

“I was coming towards the finish, and the clock’s right there. I was looking and was like, ‘Gosh, that can’t be 23 minutes. Surely, it’s got to be 24,” Stencel said. “Sure enough, I crossed in 23:55, and that was just mind-blowing because I did not expect to ever get that school record.” 

Kuzara pointed out Stencel’s record-setting result comes on the heels of hard work and dedication to the sport.  

“Cole is a pretty steady guy,” Kuzara said. “What everyone is seeing this fall, and last spring on the track, is a result of years of dedicated, consistent training day in and day out. He had a great summer of training and put in the miles throughout June, July and August that being successful in November requires. In addition to his consistency and level-headedness, he is a tremendous leader for our team. He looks out for each and every guy on our roster and is a great example of how to approach not only the sport of distance running, but also the rest of [your] life.” 

Stencel also noted that the layout of the course played a part in his record-breaking time.  

“The course was very flat, which we don’t run on many flat courses around here so that was special to have that experience,” Stencel said. “It was a unique four-lap course, which you don’t get very often in cross country. That made it easy to run, similar to track.” 

Senior Vincent Kaluza finished second for the Johnnies and 63rd overall with a personal-best time of 25:08.00. First-year Quinn Carroll was the third SJU runner to cross the finish line, placing 107th with a time of 25:47.4.  

Kuzara said that the team has performed very well this fall with many runners stepping up.  

“Seniors Vincent Kaluza, Jacob Malecha, Lars Molenkamp and Max McCoy have all been in our top seven this fall or in the past,” said Kuzara. “Sophomore Erik Montalvo has taken a big step forward this fall to be in our top seven and freshman Quinn Carroll has also been a steady presence in our top five.” 

Stencel said it was fun to see the team do well in a large meet.  

“Everybody ended up racing really well,” Stencel said. “We had five guys sub-26 [minutes], which is very special, and they were all running kind of as a tight pack, which is a lot of fun.” 

The Johnnies have finished in the top half of the leaderboard in all five meets and have continued to grow as the season goes on. 

“I think we have run well this season and been better and better at each meet,” said Kuzara. “More importantly, I have been proud of how our group executed their race plan each time out as well. We have some great senior leaders this year who have been a key part of our team the last few years, so they are experienced and have been a great presence for our younger guys.”  

Stencel highlighted how SJU typically performs its best towards the end of the season.  

“I would say that the Johnnies are always known to start off the season kind of slow and reserved, and everybody knows that the Johnnies are peaking for the end of the season,” Stencel said. “It’s planned that way. Early on we might not be running too well, but that’s because we’re training really hard. We have MIAC’s coming up, that’s when we want to be racing at our best.” 

The MIAC Championships, hosted by St. Olaf, are scheduled for noon on Saturday, Oct. 31.  

“We’re coming in with a pretty strong top group of seniors, so that’s really exciting,” Stencel said. “Obviously, our goal every year is to take conference, and that would be truly special if we could go in and do that.” 

Stencel says he’s thankful for the years of training that has led him up to this point. He’s also grateful for the support from head coach Maxwell Kuzara and assistant coach Tim Miles. 

“I’ve given a lot to this sport, and I have got a lot from the sport, and so I’m hoping to take advantage of these last four years of training, last four years of coaching, and that everything kind of wraps up to a good ending,” Stencel said.