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-Head Coach Bill Saxton (2:34)

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The 2009-2010 Saint John's University swimming and diving team looks to improve upon its fifth-place finish at the 2009 MIAC Championships.

SJU head coach Bill Saxton enters his 12th season with the Johnnies. Under the direction of Saxton, Saint John's has finished in the top three at the MIAC meet in eight of the last 10 seasons and have three, Top-25 finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Leading the Johnnies this season are juniors Michael Williams (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Andy Happe (Urbandale, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) as well as sophomores Jimmy Foley (Moorhead, Minn.), Ty Nimens (Crookston, Minn.) and Jesse Otis (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic).

At the 2009 MIAC Championships, Williams finished fifth in the 100-yard freestyle, while Happe finished seventh in the 100-yard backstroke and eighth in the 200-yard backstroke. Foley finished seventh in the 500-yard freestyle and sixth in the 200-yard freestyle. Nimens finished sixth in the 200-yard individual medley. Otis finished eighth in the 200-yard individual medley and sixth in the 400-yard individual medley.

Sophomore divers Kelley Burg (Grand Forks, N.D./Sacred Heart) and Wes Schlichting (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) finished fifth and seventh in the 1-meter diving competition, respectively.

In addition to Burg and Schlichting, junior Marcus Rien (Richmond, Minn./Rocori) also returns to bolster the Johnnie divers. Rien earned MIAC Co-Diver of the Year honors for the 2007-08 season after claiming the conference title in the one-meter and a third-place finish in the three-meter. He was unable to compete in last year's championship meet due to a knee injury suffered a week prior to the event. 

Although the Johnnies lost three seniors to graduation, SJU welcomes seven freshmen to the 31-man roster.  Also joining Saint John's this season is sophomore Josh Seaburg (Moorhead, Minn.), a transfer from Gustavus Adolphus. Seaburg finished in the top three in the 200-yard butterfly a total of six times last year, including a second-place finish at the 2009 MIAC Championships with a time of 1:54.74. 

Saint John's hosts three home meets this season, including the CSB/SJU Fall Invitational Nov. 7 and the CSB/SJU Winter Invitational Jan. 9. In addition, the Johnnies host a dual meet Dec. 12 against St. Thomas. The 2010 MIAC championships will be held Feb. 18-20 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.