It’s less than halfway through the competitive indoor track season, and already multiple school records have been broken by our very own on the Saints Track Crew. The first of these impressive feats was accomplished by Ella Baker ’28 in the Women’s 60-meter dash at the Middlebury Snowflake Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 11. Baker’s time of 7.89 seconds exceeded the previous St. Lawrence program record of 7.92 seconds set by Hanna Kinsey ’14 in 2014. This new record positions Baker as a true up-and-comer on the team. All eyes will be on Baker these next 3.5 years after dusting this one off her rookie Maxflies, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a witness to all she achieves next.
The second record was outperformed by none other than two-time All-American distance star Nick Lyndaker ’26 in the Men’s 1000-meter run at the Utica Winter Opener this past Friday, Jan. 16. Lyndaker’s exceptional 2:26:72 run broke the longest-standing men’s indoor track & field record at St. Lawrence, set by David Elster back in 1984. I would be surprised, except that I have run alongside Lyndaker and seen him break a 40-plus-year-old record set by Elster before—so now I’m just impressed.
When reflecting on his achievement, Lyndaker reported feeling “unsure” about how the race would go, especially after coming off one of the most taxing workouts of the season a mere few days prior. “The 1k is a weird event, and it isn’t run often, so my coach and I wanted to target it at some meets early in the season,” said Lyndaker. Though he wasn’t shocked by his capability to break the record, he concluded that it was still “very exciting to see it work out.” However, going forward, Lyndaker hopes to focus more intently on the 15000-meter, working to break the 4-minute-mile barrier by the end of his collegiate career if possible.
Lynaker’s race experience certainly stands in contrast to Baker’s,
who reported being incredibly surprised by her time. “I couldn’t even believe it,” she said. “I felt myself get out of the blocks better than usual. I was expecting to get in the 7.9’s, so seeing myself get a 7.89 was crazy!”
Though certainly impressive, Baker’s record surely checks out, given the intensity of her recent training. “Since coming ot SLU I’ve started to lift much more
often, which was very new to me [at first],” she said. “However, I’ve been really happy with the training and the hard work I’ve been putting in, and I can definitely say I’m reaping the rewards of it!” Still, there is more the aspirational first-year hopes to achieve. Going forward, Baker strives to improve her block starts, as well as break the record for the Women’s 200-meter dash!