St. Lawrence University men's cross country seniors Nick Lyndaker and Patrick Russell are headed to the national stage after securing individual berths to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Canton, N.Y.

The bids were announced by the NCAA earlier Sunday afternoon as part of their release of the slate of championship teams heading to South Carolina next weekend. 

"We of course knew that Nick would received an individual bid to the NCAA Championship regardless of what teams from the region were selected," began Saints head coach John Newman. "Being the runner up or even in the top seven individual positions guarantee that. Pat and the rest of the team had to wait until today to see if we would earn a team bid, which we unfortunately just missed. However, we knew if the region received five bids that Pat would earn his first trip to the NCAAs."

"When we saw Amherst first on the alphabetical list of at-large selections, I could hear Pat immediately recognize that he would be joining Nick in Spartanburg. I'm for sure disappointed that we just missed a team bid but I'm absolutely thrilled for both Nick and Pat to be representing the Saints on the National stage."

Lyndaker delivered his best career regional performance, placing second in 25:11.5 and improving by six spots from his 2024 regional finish. He settled into the lead group from the start and held his position throughout, pulling away from the chasers in the final stretch to lock down one of the region's automatic qualifying places.

The result adds to an already decorated array of experience. Lyndaker has succeeded at the NCAA level before, most notably winning the 2024 national title in the indoor mile. His championship experience and strong late season form give him momentum heading into his final collegiate cross country race. He looks to better his 2024 nationals finish, where he placed 59^th overall with a time of 24:58.1.

Russell joins Lyndaker after also receiving All-Region honors at the NCAA Mideast Regional, placing 25th overall. He's also entering his final NCAA competition. This will be the national championship meet of Russell's career.

Lyndaker and Russell head to the championship on Saturday, November 22 in Spartanburg, S.C. at the Roger Milliken Cross Country Course.