Program History

Perennially one of the top teams among Division III schools in the East, St. Lawrence University’s men’s cross country team has enjoyed lofty national rankings over the last several seasons and has qualified as a team for the NCAA Division III Championships in three of the last six years. Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) champions each year since the inception of conference competition in 1995, and also winners in 2004 when the UCAA was reconfigured as the Liberty League, the Saints have also won New York State Collegiate Track and Field Conference (NYSCTC) cross country titles four times in the last eight years. The Saint program has produced a NYSCTC record 10 individual champions, and in 2004 won as a team and had the individual champion and top rookie in the conference meet. Also in 2004, Jon French was named runner of the year and John Newman coach of the year.

The Saints run against Clarkson, Hamilton, Hobart, Rensselaer, Union and Vassar in the league championships and also participate in many of the major Northeastern small-college meets during the regular season. The Saints ran in the Pre-NCAA race at St. Olaf in Minnesota in the fall of 2002 and the Iona Meet of Champions in 2003, and annually run in invitationals at Williams, Middlebury, Oswego, Albany and Saratoga in addition to participating in the NYSCTC championship. The season concludes with the NCAA Atlantic Regional qualifier, which St. Lawrence hosted in 2004 and 1998) with the top teams and selected individuals from that event, typically including some from St. Lawrence, advancing to the NCAA championship meet.