College of Saint Benedict Athletics

Saxton returned to the pool deck to serve as an assistant coach for Saint Benedict prior to the 2026-27 season. He returns after eight seasons away from coaching. Saxton served as the head coach of the Bennies from 1998 to 2004 before moving over to become solely the Johnnies head coach for 20 seasons. He announced his retirement from Saint John’s in 2018.  

 

In his time at CSB, Saxton coached one NCAA Division III All-Americans (Gretchen Weber, 1999 200 Back & Katie Kuhlmann, 2002 100 Breast), one honorable mention All-American (Gretchen Weber, 1999 200 Free), 12 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) medalists and 33 All-MIAC honorees. Under the direction of Saxton, Saint Ben’s finished in the top-five at the MIAC Championships in five of his six seasons. 

 

While at SJU, Saxton led the Johnnies to 11 top-three finishes at the MIAC Championships and three top-25 finishes at the NCAA Division III National Championship while serving as the head coach from 1998-2018. He was twice named the MIAC Coach of the Year, earning the accolade in 2003 and 2016. Saxton coached 12 individual NCAA All-Americans and seven relay teams that earned NCAA All-American honors. Saxton also coached one NCAA Champion, as Matt Zelen won the 50-yard freestyle at the 1999 national championship.