SP
Sydney Packard
  • chemical engineering
  • Class of 2020
  • Georgetown, Mass.

Sydney Packard of Georgetown, Mass., Earns Invitation to NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships

2018 May 21

Two individuals and a relay, including Sydney Packard, will head to La Crosse, Wisconsin for the 2018 NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships May 24-26.

Sophomore Sydney Packard and senior Lea Strangio will contest the women's 800-meter run while the quartet of sophomore Alex Rus, senior Paul-Henry Schoenhagen, sophomore Nick Fleury and senior Warren Staver will compete in the men's 4x400-meter relay.

Packard was the first to qualify with a 2:09.34 at Georgia Tech a week after an impressive performance at the indoor version of the event. It will be the fourth consecutive NCAA appearance for the two-time All-America, who also claimed the NEWMAC 1,500-meter run title with the 10th-ranked time. The NEWMAC and Division III New England 800m champion was the top D3 performer with a fifth-place 2:09.27 at the NEICAAA Championships. Only two-time defending champion Emily Richards from Ohio Northern and repeat All-America Annalise Wagner from Washington U had a quicker time over the course of the outdoor season. Richards, Wagner and Packard were the top 3 at the indoor championships.

Strangio is making a return trip to the national outdoor meet and third overall. With a spot in reach the entire season, Strangio began with a 2:14.09 at the Yellow Jacket Invitational before improving the past three attempts in as many weeks culminating with the 21st-ranked 2:12.61 at the MIT Final Qualifier.

The relay bettered the school record by nearly a second, and four spots on the national leaderboard, with a 3:13.69 Thursday at MIT to rank seventh. Rus and Staver were members of last year's foursome that placed 12th in a time of 3:15.61, while Schoenhagen served as the alternate. Rus was also .06, and one declaration, off the final spot in the individual 400m with his NEWMAC title time of 48.17.

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 40 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.