St. John’s cross country prepares for MIAC Championship meet

The St. John’s cross country team finished 30th out of 36 teams in the A race at the Augustana Interregional Meet, located in Rock Island, Illinois. The meet was filled with 18 ranked teams.

“The Augustana Interregional Meet is one of the highest competitive meets outside of nationals,” Head coach Maxwell Kuzara said.

Kuzara is in his 3rd season as head coach and 6th season overall on the staff. Kuzara highlighted how the team has been hit with a lot of adversity and unexpected challenges throughout the season.

“We’ve had many runners out with injuries or sickness throughout the year, and that has been challenging. It also hasn’t helped that we have had such a warm fall, which is not ideal running weather for cross country,” Kuzara said. “This adversity is good for these young men and this gives opportunity to other runners to show what they have.”

Junior Cole Stencel placed 87th in the meet and first on the team.

“Noticing that it is the last meet before the MIAC Championships and Nationals; working on everything and making sure we get everything right for the postseason,” Stencel said.

The MIAC Championships will be held on Nov. 1. It will be ran in Highland in St. Paul. Stencel points out the advantages of this course.

“We had a MIAC preview meet there; it was our second meet of the year. The advantages are that it is a two-lap course, so you know where you are at during the race. It is also relatively flat,” Stencel said.

Stencel said that self-evaluation after meets is a key skill to have.

“Every meet you learn a little something. You learn how you can push yourself better and what you didn’t do to prepare for this meet that you can do better in the future,” Stencel said.

Eamon Cavanaugh, a fifth year senior who placed 110th in the last meet, highlighted what the difference is this year compared to other years.

“We have had a lot of injuries as others have mentioned. Those that are injured have done a really great job about getting work done off the ball. You could see how the injuries and sickness has sucked the life out of our team at times, but it is inspiring to watch how they are coming back every day and working hard. Props to those guys on not giving up on the season,” Cavanaugh said.

While being a fifth year senior, in his last semester on campus, Cavanaugh brought up his motivation going into the last few meets of the season.

“For me, two more races to go for my career. I want to end my career on a good note. More importantly, our finish as a team. Our team’s finish is super important and that is what is exciting. It is not just about that run on that day but having seven guys or even the whole team running their best at the end of the year,” Cavanaugh said.

Vincent Kaluza, a junior who placed 249th in the last meet, highlighted what the biggest strength of the team is and how that will put them ahead of everyone else during the last important meets.

“Our grit because everyone is working their butt off. They want it really bad. Teams haven’t went through what we have went through, and we are using that to our advantage,” Kaluza said.

Kaluza had high praise for the coaches and message that is being talked about around the team.

“At the beginning of the season, hopes were high. Throughout the injuries and sickness, he kept telling us that it is going to be okay. It puts less stress on us and has been building us up for the last two meets,” Kaluza said.

The Johnnies are looking to finish a 2025 season that has seen a number of injuries and illnesses with a strong performance at the upcoming MIAC Championships.