University of St. Thomas Athletics
Program Overview
In fall 2021 St. Thomas became the first institution to make a direct move in all sports from NCAA D-III into D-I athletics.
Tommie Men's Track and Field is one of 18 sports that competes in The Summit League. St. Thomas teams also compete in the Pioneer Football League; the WCHA women’s hockey league; and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association for men’s hockey.
Tommie sophomore Nate Raddatz became the university's first Division I athlete to win a conference crown, in outdoor track and field, as he led a 1-3 St. Thomas finish in the decathlon. Raddatz had personal best times and marks in all 10 decathlon events. His best score in the decathlon as a freshman in D-III was 5761, and but in 2022 he scored 6855, a top 50 D-I score among sophomores and freshmen nationally. Jack Rosner took third in the conference decathlon with a score of 6626, the 17th best D-I score nationally among freshmen.
Joining Rosner with top-two conference placings in 2022 were Summit runners-up Rosner, indoor T&F heptathlon; and freshman Gary Afram, outdoor 100 meters. Afram placed second in the 100 meters, ran on the third-place 4x100 relay, and placed sixth in the long jump. Afram ran the fastest 100 meters by a Tommie (10.52) in 22 seasons and moved to No. 2 all time behind Roman Cress' 10.49 school record.
Freshmen Rosner (indoors) and Afram (outdoors) were named the overall top newcomers at The Summit League championship meets. Three Tommie newcomers ranked among the top 75 freshmen nationally in their events during the Division I indoor season—Rosner in the heptathlon and 60 hurdles; Isaiah Hopf in the triple jump; and Afram in the 60 dash.
In spring 2021 the Tommies closed out the MIAC and D-III chapters with several top achievements:
- St. Thomas scored in all 22 events with points from 27 different athletes and won the MIAC outdoor team title for the 12th time in 13 years
- It was Steve Mathre's 45th of a possible 50 team championships in indoor/outdoor track and field in his 26-year era as head coach
- The Tommies sent seven athletes to the NCAA championship meet: senior Gage O'Brien (hammer); junior Parker Feuerborn (hammer); junior Eric Douville (200); sophomore Zach Haire (10,000); freshman Cam Shultz (pole vault); Max Gifford (800); and Morey Smith (1,500).
More Division III Era
St. Thomas built a reputation over the last four decades as the MIAC conference's dominant team in track and field.
St. Thomas won the MIAC indoor team championship all 36 seasons it was held while in the conference. The Toms captured the outdoor team title 32 of 37 seasons (2020 was called off due to the Covid-19 outbreak). St. Thomas individuals or relay units owned MIAC all-time records in 14 of the 22 events outdoors before the program moved into D-I.
Combined indoor and outdoor team titles for St. Thomas sits at 74 out of 134 total championships. That is more than triple the total of the next closest program (Macalester, 22).
St. Thomas has regularly enjoyed success at the national level, too. In the 36 seasons that St. Thomas was a member and NCAA Division III held indoor championship meets, the Tommies claimed eight top-five team finishes, including the 1985 national team championship. They also won nearly 100 All-America honors indoors, with 10 individual champs and 10 NCAA runners-up.
Eric Holst won NCAA titles in the hammer (2018) and weight throw (2019) with a runner-up hammer finish in (2019).
St. Thomas crowned two NCAA champions in 2011-12 -- cross country victor Ben Sathre, and 800 indoor champion Mike Hutton. Sathre took second in 2010 and first in 2011. Hutton eventually lowered his career best in the 800 to 1:48.42, not far off the Olympic Trials qualifying standard.
Coach Steve Mathre was named NCAA Region Coach of the Year five times in the last 13 years in D-III. St. Thomas placed fifth at the 2012 NCAA Indoor meet; third in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor meet; and fifth at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor nationals. The Toms' 2009 team became the first Minnesota men's college or university team to win a relay at nationals (4x100 and 4x400).
In 2012-2013, Senior Eyo Ekpo placed third in the triple jump at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. The third-place finish helped Ekpo nab his seventh career All-America award.
Either the Tommie men or women had a relay team reach the finals at outdoor nationals for 33 consecutive seasons from the late 1980s until 2015.
In 43 years of NCAA Division III outdoor championships as a member, St. Thomas teams were perennial top-20 place winners and posted 11 consecutive top-10 finishes from 1983-93.
The Tommies earned outdoor track All-America honors more than 150 times, with 17 NCAA champions and 15 runners-up. The Tommies placed in the top five in the 4x400 relay seven times from 2000-2019.
Andrew Hilliard was voted a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Greg Kaiser won the same award in 1998-99; P.J. Theisen won the same elite honor in 2006 and 2008, as did as Pat Jager in 2010; Eyo Ekpo in 2012; Dylan Baumann and Jacob Gerhartz in 2016; and Parker Rosenau in 2019.
The Tommies' eight-lane, all-weather outdoor track was resurfaced in summer 2017. The Tommies also have a modern state-of-the-art field house with a 200-meter indoor track. There are also new Daktronics video display boards both indoors and at the outdoor track, with ability to show races, replays and results on 500-inch screens.
