COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Five Saint John's University track and field student-athletes were named to the 2009 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Men's All-Academic Track and Field team Monday, July 6.: seniors Eric Buss (Coon Rapids, Minn.), Mitch Gesell (Alexandria, Minn.) and Brayden Wagner (Englevale, N.D./Lisbon), junior Patrick Lowder (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) and sophomore Tom Hoffman (Mahtomedi, Minn.).
The Johnnies had the most student-athletes selected to the team among Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference members.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 and have met the NCAA Division III Indoor or Outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard in their respective event.
A mathematics and physics double-major with a 3.81 GPA, Buss was a five-time All-American in the triple jump (two indoor, three outdoor). A two-time Academic All-District and Academic All-American, Buss holds the school record in both the indoor (14.75 meters in 2009) and outdoor (14.91 meters in 2007) triple jump. In total, Buss earned All-MIAC honors (top three individually) 14 times and won six conference titles (one in the high jump, five in the triple jump). Buss is a two-time (2008 and 2009) MIAC Indoor Outstanding Field Athlete and the 2009 MIAC Outdoor Outstanding Field Athlete.
An eight-time All-MIAC performer, Gesell provisionally qualified in the 800 meters during the 2009 outdoor season. Gesell graduated in May with a 3.42 GPA in biology.
Wagner earned All-America honors in two events at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. Wagner finished sixth in the decathlon and earned SJU's first All-America performance in the pole vault with an eighth-place finish. Wagner graduated with a 3.44 GPA in accounting.
Lowder provisionally qualified for the outdoor championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He is an economics major with a 3.37 GPA.
An economics major with a 3.69 GPA, Hoffman provisionally qualified in the outdoor 800 meters. Gesell and Hoffman were members of the MIAC outdoor champion 800-meter relay team and finished second and third, respectively, in the 800 meters at the conference meet.
The Johnnies finished second at the 2009 MIAC Outdoor Championships in May and led the MIAC in both the NCAA Division III Coaches' Power Rankings (ninth) and NCAA Division III Al Carius Men's Program of the Year Award Standings (11th).
USTFCCCA Release
