WPI's Grace Hadley reflects on remarkable performance at NCAA D3 Track and Field Championships
There may have been exhaustion at the end, but what a weekend at Virginia Beach it was for WPI graduate student Grace Hadley.
"When she finished, she looked at me, kind of slapped her thighs and said, 'I had nothing left,' " Brian Chabot, the Engineers' director of track and field and cross-country, said about when Hadley placed fourth in the 3,000 meters at the NCAA Division 3 Track and Field Championships last weekend (March 8-9), worthy of All-America status.
Yet that Saturday finish only capped Hadley's accomplishments in which she brought home 25 points, with the help of three relay teammates, for WPI and a seventh-place team performance, the best in school history. For only 90 minutes earlier, Hadley breezed to victory in the mile in a school-record 4:42.36.
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And the night before, she anchored the distance medley relay team to a stunning victory, not long after easily winning her mile preliminary heat in 4:51 and change.
Hadley's exploits at the NCAA indoors only highlights a year of dramatic progress. In the fall, she finished fourth at the NCAA Division 3 cross-country meet in Newville, Pennsylvania, dropping 46 seconds off her previous time on that course from earlier in the season. Then in the mile indoors, Hadley shed a whopping 15 seconds off her previous-best 4:57 entering the season.
Hadley, who starred in middle distance for North Reading High as a home-school student ("my miles were in the high fives in high school"), has overcome the COVID restriction and injuries, particularly a stress reaction in her left tibia, that hampered her college career.
"Around last indoor season, a switch definitely flipped," Chabot said, noting an enlightened mindset. "She stayed healthy, and with maturity has learned to take better care of herself."
"I had always figured that someday I'd be able to hit my (personal bests)," said Hadley, who in May will complete a masters program in biochemistry at WPI. "I had the goals to go to nationals ... mental goals ... and now I don't get as stressed as I did in the past."
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In the Friday distance medley, Chabot and head track and field coach Emily Mauro knew WPI had an anchor who could make up possible considerable distance in the 1,600-meter leg in Hadley, who was top the seed in the mile (1,609 meters) at 4:45.94 (meet record at New Englands) entering the weekend. Chabot estimated the foursome had a shot to win if they were about 8 seconds back when entering Hadley's final leg.
Graduate student Amelia Kokernak (3:37.32 1,200 meters), senior Isabel Hallal (59.34 400) and graduate student Elise Deshusses (2:17.72 800) turned in fine splits in their legs, but so had the competing teams. When Hadley received the baton, WPI was nearly 14 seconds back, about half a lap.
"The DMR has ebbs and flows," Chabot said. "I told the three women ahead of her we just had to stay in competitive position."
Hadley's patience paid off here. "You just have to keep running until you don't see people's backs anymore," said Hadley, who was in 11th place in the heat of 12 when she began from the double-waterfall start. "When you get to one group, you just have to pass this one. One place at a time, and I have about eight laps to do this."
And as she started passing runners one by one, the buzz picked up in the Virginia Beach Sports Center. "It got so loud and crazy," Chabot said. "The last lap was nuts. That memory will stay with me forever."
Hadley moved into second entering the final lap, then took the lead off the final turn from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Natalie Bitetti, finishing her anchor leg in a blazing 4:40.16 to edge charging Central (Iowa) by .2 seconds, and the four Engineers were the school's first national track champions.
"Grace raises the level of other teammates around her," Chabot said. "She's very team-centric."
Hadley was so excited for her teammates, especially Kokernak, whose opening leg was her collegiate finale. Kokernak, whose sister Charlotte also runs for WPI, transferred from the University of Virginia to pursue a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering.
"It was her last race ever, so it was pretty emotional," Hadley said. "That was a wonderful way for her to go out."
In the Saturday mile final, she dominated right from the start, winning by more than 8 seconds.
"The plan was to go out right away," she said. "It is a talented field, and I did have a sub-4:40 in mind, but someone else (forcing the pace) could've helped. You just gotta go for it."
Still, Hadley had one more All-America performance left in her. She entered as the seventh seed in the 3,000 and was in that position through 800 meters before moving up, finishing fourth in another school-record 9:34.64, just .65 seconds out of third. St. Benedict's Fiona Smith, the NCAA D3 cross-champion in the fall, won in 9:25.97.
Hadley's outdoor track season begins March 29 at the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina, where she'll make her debut in the 10,000 meters.
"It's good competiton, but she's in a good place," Chabot said. "We think she can bang out a time that can qualify for nationals."
"I'm really excited about it," said Hadley, who likely will compete in the 5,000 for much of the spring season. "I like the longer training for it a lot, and you have a minute to think into the race before you get tired."
"She wants to go for things," Chabot added. "She's very humble, but she wants to achieve at a high level. I can't be more thrilled for her."
Winning on the Cape
Congratulation to Bancroft School teacher and coach Iain Ridgway of Holden for his victory in the Hyannis Marathon on March 3.
The 44-year-old Ridgway, the 2022 New Hampshire Marathon champion among other victories, crossed in 2:42:59 in Hyannis, some 2 minutes, 50 seconds better than Ryan Palmison and 124 other finishers.
And British native isn't slowing down. His plans are to take on the dastardly double of the Boston Marathon April 15 and London Marathon, just six days later.
Born to run indeed!
—Contact John Conceison at john.conceison@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ConceisonJohn.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: WPI's Hadley savors a trio of All-American honors over memorable weekend
