The gun goes off, and I think to myself, “How great is this.”

Wartburg hosted the NCAA Central Regional on their campus course. This is a very good course which hosted nationals in 2010. This year, after a wet fall and with late morning temperatures creeping into the mid to high 30s, the course ran sloppier and seemingly 40 seconds slower than last year’s frozen track.

Our guys raced well – our best outing of the fall – and finished 9th with 272 points in a 31-team field.

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Champion Carleton and runner-up Wartburg are automatic qualifiers to nationals. St. Olaf and St. Thomas came 3rd and 4th and will also be racing in Louisville. Carleton’s Matt Wilkinson ran an even-paced race and won going away in an exceptional 24:56.8. Full results can be found at: https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/4768 or gojohnnies.com/

HIGH POINT FEVER

Beginning midway through the season, at every competition, my old teammate Kevin Carlson (’75) would call me within minutes of our last man crossing the line. “How did Mitchell finish? What was his place?” Indeed, Freshman Mitchell Grand of Hutchinson was turning heads in his pursuit of the 2019 High Point Man title. Grand was among our scoring five in five of his six races, and he tallied an impressive 329 points to lead the team. Carlson has remained Saint John’s All-Time Career High Point Man since tallying an even 1000 points during his storied career from 1971 to 1974. He is fain to see his career mark surpassed but offers young Mitchell some advice., “The key is the national meet. A guy can score a lot of points at a national meet.”

*Kevin was three times All-Conference in cross country and won conference titles on the track at three miles as a sophomore and at six miles as a senior.

IN THE VAN

in the early years, guys brought their favorite tapes, and we all listened to the same music. Then headsets came along and it was every man for himself. Our 2019 team plays chess versus each other on their smart phones. Our team GPA, the finest in the college.

OUR WINTER PLAN

2 weeks light running / active recovery

December 5 weeks to Increase mileage

January 6 return to campus approaching peak training volume

CONFERENCE MEET PHOTOS courtesy of BJ PICKARD and EMILY CARR of the MIAC OFFICE