A number of athletes at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have punched their tickets to NCAA Division III national competition.
That group starts with the hockey teams at both schools, who each brought home MIAC playoff titles within hours of each other this past Saturday (March 7) and clinched the automatic NCAA tournament bids that came with them.
The Bennies (16-7-4) continued their historic season by beating Gustavus 2-1 in the conference title game before a packed house at the Municipal Athletic Complex’s Ritsche Arena in St. Cloud Saturday afternoon.
CSB – which had not won a postseason game until this season and has compiled only the fifth over .500 record in program history – will make its first NCAA appearance when the Bennies take on Amherst (Massachusetts) (19-2-6) in the first round at 2 p.m. Saturday (March 14) at Amherst’s Orr Rink.
The Johnnies (17-6-4) followed suit Saturday night, beating Gustavus 4-3 on a goal by freshman Cashen Naeve 3:23 into the first overtime in the MIAC men’s title game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
SJU – which had fallen behind 3-0 early in the second period – earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2013. There, the Johnnies will face Aurora (Illinois) (23-5-1) in the first round at 7 p.m. Saturday (March 14) at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois.
On the wrestling mat, SJU’s Connor Krueger has qualified for the Division III national meet at 133 pounds. The junior – who is the first Johnnie to qualify for nationals since 2020 – will be in action this Friday (March 13) and Saturday (March 14) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Meanwhile, SJU sophomore Cole Stencel will compete in the mile run at the Division III indoor track and field championships, which are scheduled for Friday (March 13) and Saturday (March 14) at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama.
CSB junior Haley Zelen and SJU senior Brayden Slavik have qualified for the Division III swimming and diving championships scheduled for March 18-21 in Indianapolis. Zelen – the first Bennie swimmer to qualify for nationals since 2002 – is seeded second overall in the 100-yard butterfly and seventh in the 50 freestyle. She will also compete in the 100 freestyle.
Slavik is seeded fourth overall in the 1,650 freestyle and will also compete in the 400 individual medley and 500 freestyle.