Shippensburg University's Chayce Macknair and Hayden Hunt will be two of the more than 340 runners scheduled to toe the line at 9:45 a.m. Saturday at the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Championships in Saint Leo, Florida.
 
Macknair and Hunt earned individual qualifications for the national championships by virtue of their ninth and 10th-place finishes at the 2021 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships two weeks ago at Lock Haven. Their respective 10K times were 31:21 and 31:22.
 
Saturday marks the first time that Raiders will be competing individually at NCAA National Championships since Matt Gillette was a solo qualifier in 2012. That year, Gillette earned All-America Honors with a 17th-place finish.
 
The two men are seeking to become the first Raider All-Americans since Alex Balla (37th place) in 2017. A Top 40 finish on Saturday would produce such a result.
 
Saint Leo University and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission are serving as the hosts of the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships. The site of competition will be the Abbey Golf Course, located adjacent to the Saint Leo campus.
 
The men's 10K national championship race will be the second of the day on the course, as the women's race is set to begin at 8:30 a.m.