Johnnies Surprised By 4th Place NCAA Finish

It's good to know we at DtB weren't the only one's surprised by St. John's trophy-earning, 4th place finish at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships last weekend in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The Johnnies themselves were surprised!

St. John's got runner-up performances from Mike Leither (400H) and Chris Erichsen (3000m SC) to account for 16 of their 27 points. Erichsen added another five points with his 4th place finish in the 5000m, Erik Diley, scored four with his 5th place long jump, and Eric Buss added two more with a 7th in the triple jump.

Wisconsin - La Crosse won the meet with 99 points, Cortland State of New York was second with 34, Illinois' Monmouth College was third with 28, and St. John's and Wisconsin - Platteville tied with 27.

The unexpected high placing echoed a similar finish last cross country season for the Collegevillians. The Johnnie harriers finished an elated 5th at that championship after their upset win over Hamline at the MIAC championships.

We tracked down Johnnie coach Tim Miles (pictured) for his impressions of the season and last weekend's national meet ...

Down the Backstretch: So, were you surprised to end up 4th at NCAAs? Was that something you saw coming during the meet or as the outdoor season matured?

Tim Miles: We WERE surprised to finish fourth in the team race. We haven’t been in a position to think about it in the past and didn’t think about it this year either. It sort of snuck up on us.

DtB: What were the keys to having the success you did this year outdoors?

Miles: We had virtually everybody “at the starting line” at the outdoor championship. Some - Andrew Stevens, Mitch Gesell, Darren Larsen, Matt Mogensen – had their training compromised by injury or illness during the long season, but all were able to compete and contribute on May 11 and 12. We had eight conference champions, but we also had 33 different people contribute to our team score at conference. You need both to win a conference title. Most important, we had great people, and it was fun being at practice each day.

DtB: St. John's, more than any other team in the MIAC, downplays the indoor season. Why do you do that? What advantages did you think it gave you outdoors this year?

Miles: Indoor track and field is great and certainly necessary in Minnesota. But having championship seasons nine or ten weeks apart is problematic. In international track and field, the indoor season is January through March and the outdoor season July through September. That makes sense and you have a chance to do it right both indoors and outdoors: recover, build a base in an intelligent way, add some gears, and race.

We really like outdoor track and field at Saint John’s and are willing to take our lumps indoors if it means improving our outdoor performance. There is no denying that many get after, and excel at, both championship seasons. Let’s say eight out of ten athletes who attempt to do so are successful. But we will forgo optimum performances indoors if we can improve that figure to nine out of ten. May is the month we remember.

DtB: Chris Erichsen really matured as a college runner this year. What can you tell us about his development as a runner so far?

Miles: Chris’s story is like so many others and exactly the reason we love this sport. Here is a guy who trained very well and got a little better, trained very well and got a little better, trained very well and got a little better, trained very well and his ship came in. Why now? Danged if I know. But this is what we sell: keep training and your day will come.

Chris is very self-sufficient and very intelligent and takes a holistic approach to his training. In addition to running a lot, he eats well, sleeps well, studies well, enjoys his teammates and the team setting, and enjoys the journey. He knows when to take an easy day and isn’t bothered by it. From a racing standpoint, it took him a while – after being a successful front runner in high school – to be comfortable and stay engaged in the race while running further back in the field.


(Full disclosure: I'm a 1985 graduate of St. John's; Miles was my college coach.)

Photo courtesy of St. John's University.