MD
Madeline Dery
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Putnam Valley, NY

Madeline Dery Qualifies for NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship

2016 Mar 8

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's (RPI) Madeline Dery of Putnam Valley has earned the opportunity to compete for an NCAA national championship, having qualified for the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Competition begins on Friday morning and concludes on Saturday evening at the Charles Benson Bear '39 Recreation and Athletic Center in Grinnell, Iowa, with Grinnell College serving as the official host.

The women's distance medley relay team competes on Friday at 7:10pm with Dery (Mahopac HS) running the opening 1200 meters, Howes (Annandale, VA / W.T. Woodson) at 400 meters, Wrzosek (Dowington, PA / Dowington West) running 800 meters and Lord (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) taking the anchor leg, which is 1600 meters. They earned their place at nationals when they finished first and shattered the school record by more than 25 seconds, posting a time of 11:59.89 at the New York State Meet. It was the fourth fastest women's DMR time in the nation at that point and now ranks 11th. Dery and Wrzosek are juniors, while Howes and Lord are sophomores. Both Lord and Dery have NCAA Meet experience, having competed in the 2015 cross country and 2015 outdoor national competitions, respectively. Senior Alexa Sakorafos (Brookfield, CT / Immaculate), a captain, will serve as the alternate as she has the ability to run any of the four legs if needed. The women's 3000 meter run kicks off at 4:40pm on Saturday and features Lord and Dery, who are third and fourth entering the 17-person event. They both established their qualifying times on Friday when they finished first and second at the Tufts Final Qualifying Meet with times of 9:45.58 and 9:46.62, respectively. Their times were the second and third best in school history and first and second on a flat track.