Making History: WPI Brings Home Two NCAA Division III National Championships in Two Days

Making history: WPI brings home two NCAA Division III National Championships in two Days. Prior to this weekend, WPI had two national championships in over 100 years of varsity athletics and in 50 years of Division III. But the Engineers captured two more in just two days at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field championship, held March 8 and 9. Grace Hadley, a graduate student from North Reading, MA, made waves at the event, setting a new school record in the mile with a time of 4:42.36 and securing a commanding win at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Not stopping there, Hadley also clinched a new school record and claimed her third All-American citation of the meet and fourth of her career, finishing fourth in the 3,000 meters. Hadley and her teammates also took home first place in the Women’s Distance Medley Relay in one of the most exciting races of the day. The four-member squad included Hadley, Amelia Kokernak (Niskayuna, NY), Isabel Hallal (Foxboro, MA) and Elise Deshusses (Chapel Hill, NC). The Engineers were in 11th place and nearly 14 seconds behind the leader when Hadley took the baton for the anchor leg and ran a jaw-dropping 4:40.16 final 1600 for the dramatic victory. Read more about the winning weekend on the WPI Athletics website which includes information about WPI pole-vaulter Gavin Fleck (Bend, OR) who earned his first career All-America citation by clearing a school-record height of 16-4.