Minnesota Scene: St. Thomas ranked No. 3 in preseason Division III football poll

St. Thomas was rated No. 3 in the preseason D3football.com poll released this week. It's the third consecutive season the Tommies, who are the defending MIAC champions after going 11-2 last season, have been ranked in the top five in the website's preseason poll.

Coach Glenn Caruso's team returns 14 players with starting experience, including eight on offense, from a team that loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor 24-10 in the national quarterfinals.

St. John's (9-2 last season) was ranked No. 11. Concordia (Moorhead), a third MIAC team, fell 10 votes short of making the Top 25.

Mount Union (15-0), which received 24 of 25 first-place votes, was ranked first and Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-1) third.

The St. Paul Saints traded veteran first baseman/pitcher Dan Johnson to the Lincoln Saltdogs for rookie first baseman Nathaniel Maggio.

Maggio, 23, hit .257 with two home runs and 15 RBI in 47 games with Lincoln. He began his professional career in 2017 with Lincoln.

Johnson, 37, is currently on the disabled list.

• Forward Mark Sneden, a former player for the Fargo Force in the USHL and Wayzata High School, has committed to North Dakota. He will join the Fighting Hawks for the upcoming season.

• Junior-to-be Tiffany Huber, a transfer from Louisville, will join the Gophers women's tennis team. She will be eligible immediately. Huber, of Boca Raton, Fla., was 9-1 in singles and 3-6 in doubles for the Cardinals last fall.

• Bethany Lutheran men's soccer coach Rob Pipal will retire at the end of this season. He has coached the Vikings since 1998 when they were a National Junior College Athletic Association member.

• Five Minnesotans were named to the under-17 U.S. select team for the Five Nations Tournament Aug. 15-19 in Piestany, Slovakia. They are forwards Blake Biondi of Hermantown, and Jonston Meiers of Eagan, and defensemen Wyatt Kaiser of Ham Lake, Jake Ratzlaff of Rosemount, and Nathan Schweitzer of Champlin.