Speeding Past a 40-Year-Old Record
For Nick Lyndaker '26, trailblazing runs in the family.
As Nick Lyndaker ’26 hit the halfway point of his 3,000-meter race at the Fastrack National Invitational in Staten Island, the St. Lawrence sophomore knew he was running fast. So fast, in fact, that the seemingly untouchable 1984 school record set by Jukka Tammisuo ’87 was suddenly within reach. With plenty more gas in the tank and about a mile to go, Nick put his natural racing savvy to work, methodically chasing his opponents down and passing three or four of them in the final two laps. Lyndaker strode across the finish line at 8:13.87, crushing his personal record by a whopping 21 seconds and breaking Tammisuo’s 40-year program record by less than a second.
Ask anyone in the program, past or present—Tammisuo is a legend. During his time at St. Lawrence, he set several cross country and track and field records, won the NCAA cross country national championship in 1987, and is a two-time NCAA champion in the 1,500-meter run (1986 and 1987). He remains the only four-time All-American in St. Lawrence cross country history. Having cemented his role as the standard bearer for the program, Tammisuo graduated and moved back to his home country of Finland. He went on to win three national titles in the indoor 3,000-meter and one in the outdoor 5,000-meter. He raced all over Europe while living in Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
Tammisuo continues to follow St. Lawrence cross country and track and field news through @saintsxctf and @SLUSaints on Instagram, especially on meet days, so he saw Lyndaker’s record-breaking results immediately. Based on the successes he had seen from Lyndaker during the cross-country season, he had high hopes and expectations for his indoor season and beyond, so he was excited to share in the milestone.
“I was happy that he improved his 3,000-meter time, but he’ll run a lot faster during the 2025-26 indoor seasons,” says Tammisuo. “At that point in his running career, his performance can take huge leaps. I would not be surprised if Nick breaks eight minutes for the 3,000-meter.”
One could argue that Lyndaker was destined for this record-breaking performance. His parents, Jeff ’95 and Deb Danehy Lyndaker ’97, were both two-time All-Americans, with Deb becoming the first woman at St. Lawrence to earn the honor in cross country. The couple met as counselors at the inaugural St. Lawrence track and field camp in the summer of 1993, before Deb even started her freshman year. She often trained with Jeff and the other men on the team throughout her college career. In 1998, Deb came back to campus to coach and, several years later, she and Jeff welcomed Nick into the world—and into the Saints family.
Nick took some of his first steps on the St. Lawrence University track, where he has skillfully and humbly—navigated the trails blazed by his parents. That could be due, in part, to the intentional way Jeff and Deb introduced running into Nick’s life, encouraging him to try a variety of sports like soccer and basketball. He was naturally a very active kid and witnessed firsthand his parents’—and the St. Lawrence team’s—passion for running and racing. Now they’re all watching Nick.
“The St. Lawrence program is a huge generational support system,” says Deb. “Athletes that I coached and who babysat Nick when he was little are still tracking his success and tuning in to races from across the country. It’s really special.”
That team-minded approach is one of the things that drew the quiet kid from Canton to St. Lawrence. “The culture is very supportive and welcoming here, says Nick. “I had 30 friends on day one.”
Coach John Newman ’94, M’01, P’27 was thrilled that Nick chose St. Lawrence. As a close friend of the Lyndakers, Newman has watched Nick grow up, even getting to catch some of his meets when he first started competing in seventh grade. He could tell from that early age that the kid had it. “Nick is low-key and humble with impressive race savvy,” says Newman. “He has a natural instinct for when to make moves and a racing maturity that’s rare to see in a first-year or sophomore. It’s fun to watch him race.”
That last part might just be a key to Lyndaker’s record-breaking success. “My parents always taught me to go out there and have fun,” says the young man of few words.
When it comes to racing, Lyndaker seems to be more interested in showing than telling—an approach that has served him well so far. Within a span of two months since breaking the 3,000-meter record, he also set a new program record in indoor track for the mile and outdoor track for the 5,000-meter, plus he received All-Region honors for the mile run. As a first-year, Lyndaker was named Liberty League Rookie of the Year for both indoor and outdoor track and field. His trajectory seems to have only one direction—forward and faster.
Lyndaker inherited his parents’ love of winning and devotion to his craft. “He is just gritty,” says mom, Deb. “He can approach any race with a positive attitude—in bad weather conditions or whatever obstacles come up, he embraces the challenge! Thrives on it.”
As he looks forward to cross country season next fall, what Lyndaker is most excited about is the fun team atmosphere. Well, that, and maybe breaking the 8K record.
