Elizabeth Pellegrini of Worcester, Mass. Headed to NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships

2016 Jun 10

Elizabeth Pellegrini will be traveling to Waverly, Iowa to represent the WPI track & field team at the 2016 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 26-28.

Senior Jason Beauregard (New Bedford, MA) will represent the men in the hammer throw after smashing his own PR Thursday with an All-ECAC heave of 180-7 to jump up to 20th on the performance list. He previously turned in a personal-best of 169-4 at the Coast Guard Spring Invitational. Beauregard is the first WPI hammer thrower to make the field since Jarrett Arredondo, who placed seventh with a distance of 173-11 in 2009, and first Crimson and Gray male to earn a bid since Welsey DeChristofaro (long jump) in 2014.

"Jason getting in is a great story," remarked head coach Brian Chabot. "He's someone we knew had a big throw in him but it hadn't quite come out in competition. On his second throw at ECACs it finally came and with that he jumped up 31 spots on the NCAA list, which is almost unheard of and grabbed the final spot to get into the championship. I'm really happy for Jason and Coach Mike Stomski. They both put in a ton of work this year to get to this point."

It will mark the third consecutive year the 4x100-meter relay will be making an appearance. The 2016 configuration of senior Alex Price (Franklin, MA), senior Liz Pellegrini (Worcester, MA), sophomore Sara Velleca (Woodbury, CT) and freshman Michelle Gencorelli (Andover, MA) set the school record with a time of 47.08 at this week's ECAC Division III Championships, which put them sixth nationally. Sophomore Taylor Teed (Boxford, MA) will serve as the Engineers alternate.

"The last two years we had to wait until the last day of qualifying to know whether or not our relay would get into NCAAs," added Chabot. "Thankfully this year that wasn't the case as they ran an outstanding time at ECACs and have the sixth fastest time in the country. With three of our legs being veterans of at least one trip to the national meet and two of those having run in two previous NCAA Championships, we're certainly experienced and I would expect we will rise to the occasion during the trials and earn a spot back into the finals."

Pellegrini will also contest the 400-meter hurdles for a third consecutive outdoor championship thanks to her seventh-place qualifying mark of 1:01.44 at the New England Division III Championships.

Chabot continued, "Liz has had her most consistent year in the 400m hurdles this season and the hope is that consistency, along with her two previous years of NCAA Championship experience, will result in a trip to the finals and a shot at being named an All-American."

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 45 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.