CANTON — Nick Lyndaker entered the NCAA indoor championship's mile run final as a No. 2 seed, engaged in an exhilarating race with a photo finish, and emerged as St. Lawrence University's first individual men's track and field national champion since 2010 on Saturday in Rochester.

Lyndaker ran a 4:06.45 to cross the line just barely ahead of Brockport's Jonathan Zavala after a come-from-behind victory on the final stretch of the race.

After a quick start, the born-and-bred Canton, N.Y. native established himself in fourth position through the race's middle laps and kept pace with the race leader. After advancing into third place heading into the final lap, Lyndaker bolted toward the outside to get some room on his opponents.

As if shot out of a cannon, he gained positioning as the runners pulled around the final corner and broke into a sprint down to the line. Lyndaker pushed himself to the front and crossed the line three-one hundredths of a second ahead of his nearest competitor to claim the national title in the mile with a time of 4:06.45, three seconds shy of his personal record.

Lyndaker is the first Saints men's track and field member from Canton, N.Y. to win a national championship, and the first member of the team to win a national championship since Eric Jones took first in the weight throw. Lyndaker is St. Lawrence's first national champion in a track event since Tim McCrossen won the 400-meter dash in 1987.

Lyndaker also competed in the 3000-meter run, registering a finish of 8:47.43 in the event and placing 20th overall in the country.

The Saints now prepare for their outdoor season which will begin later in March.

Saints head coach John Newman said:  "I'm still really struggling to put words to this momentous event. The connection I have with Nick and his family, the hard work and near misses that we've endured over the years and the incredible margins that determine qualifying, advancing to finals and ultimately winning a national title along with the patience it took to get to this point is pretty overwhelming.  Watching Nick's race play out from the top of the straight away will be embedded in my memory for a very long time.  When he started his charge for the line coming off the last turn all I could do is put my hands on my head and wait.  The perspective from behind when all I could see is the three of their backs bolting to the line was far from ideal.  Having no idea how it played out all I could do is look to the scoreboard to see the names and order appear as results.  When "Lyndaker" showed first, I could barely believe it and had to wait for the other names to appear before I could process what just happened.  I can't tell you how relieved and ecstatic I was to see his name show first."

"Two and half years ago, Nick came to us with a 1600m PR of 4:25 and now he stands on the top of the NCAA Championships podium and has run 4:03 as a lifetime best. Today I am an incredibly proud coach and beyond grateful to have the opportunity to work with such amazing student-athletes like Nick. I've been overwhelmed with messages from so many of our alumni and supporters since 4:04 p.m. yesterday. It is an absolute honor to be a member of our Laurentian community as an alumnus of St. Lawrence class of 1994 and as someone that Nick refers to as his coach."
Nick Lyndaker said: 
"I was able to get on the rail without much effort to start and made my move towards the front before the pace started dropping. Throughout the race, I made a few small moves to stay within striking distance and made a big move to third with 150 meters to go and it was really starting to hit me that I had a chance at this and still felt pretty good. Coming around the last turn, I was able to find a next gear to slingshot off the turn. I just put my head down and went for it. I pulled up to side of them with 20 meters to go and knew it would come down to a lean at the line. We crossed the line and had no clue who won, but within seconds my name showed up at the top of the results. It was just such an unreal feeling." 
"I can't put into words how much winning that race means to me. But I will say this: walking off the track to get swarmed by more than 20 of my closest friends and family was the best feeling ever."