Benjamin Fazio Named Regional Runner of the Year

2017 Mar 9

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Benjamin Fazio of East Greenwich 02818 has been named Male Track Athlete of the Year in the Atlantic Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Fazio (East Greenwich HS) is a senior who ranks among the leaders in the nation in the mile and the 3000 meters. He began the season competing in the mile in a meet at Dartmouth College in mid-January when he finished second overall and first among Division III competitors with a time of 4:12.46. He then ran the 3000 miles at Boston University (8:21.26) before winning the mile (4:21.14) and the 800 meter run (personal-best 1:57.41) in leading the Engineers to the Liberty League Championship Meet title. Fazio was named the top runner at the competition.

The materials engineering major then won the 3000 meters at Utica College with a school record - and fifth-best time in the nation - effort of 8:18.57. Fazio went on to capture Runner of the Meet at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championship by winning the mile (4:10.24) and 1000 meters (2:29.99). His mile time was a school and championship record. Last weekend, he helped set Rensselaer's distance medley relay team record by nearly 20 seconds with a time of 9:57.73.

He returns to action at the NCAA Championship Meet this weekend when he compete in the 3000 meters - he enters ranked fifth - and the DMR, which is third in the nation. This is the second straight year Fazio has qualified for the national championship meet after earning a place in the mile a season ago.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America's oldest technological research university. For nearly two centuries, the Institute has been a driving force behind breakthroughs in engineering and science in virtually every arena-from transportation and infrastructure to business, medicine, outer space, and cyberspace.

As it approaches its bicentennial anniversary, the Institute continues to define The New Polytechnic, a new paradigm for teaching, learning, and research that uses advanced technologies to enable fresh collaborations across disciplines, sectors, and regions, in order to answer the global challenges of our day.