TROY, N.Y. - While the start of the 2020-21 season has yet to be determined, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's track & field team has been determined and head coach Colin Tory, along with head cross country coach/assistant track coach John Lynch and assistant coach Jon Rogers have a squad that includes eight seniors and 14 juniors. There are natives of 15 different states and 20 majors being studied.

Below is information about the team makeup as well as notes about the squad and individual student-athletes:

Class Years: 2 in Class of 2020 ... 8 in Class of 2021 ... 14 in Class of 2022 ... 15 in Class of 2023 ... 13 in Class of 2024

Natives Of: California (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (3), Florida (1), Illinois (1), Maryland (1), Massachusetts (3), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (8), New York (22), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (5), Vermont (2), Virginia (1) and Washington (1)

Majoring In: Aeronautical Engineering (5), Architecture (2), Biochemistry and Biophysics (3), Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology (1), Biomedical Engineering (8), Business and Management (1), Chemical Engineering (8), Civil Engineering (4), Computer and Systems Engineering (2), Computer Science (1), Electrical Engineering (2), Environmental Engineering (2), Environmental Science (1), Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (1), Geology (1), Industrial and Management Engineering (1), Materials Engineering (2), Mechanical Engineering (4), Undeclared Engineering (2) and Undeclared (1)

• Team GPA in spring 2020 was 3.73 (48 student-athletes) ... Cumulative GPA was 3.42
• To learn more about the distance runners who are also members of the cross country team, please click HERE
• Dayna Moyer (Aberdeen, NJ / Matawan Regional) was an accomplished gymnast (uneven bar). She later took up track & field and trained with men's pole vaulter James Zeolla (Califon, NJ / West Morris Central) prior to them both attending Rensselaer.
• Lorna Drexler (Millstone, NJ / Allentown) has done an R&D internship at Reckitt Benckeiser for AirWick fragrances and a Salix R & D internship at Bausch Health. Her brother graduated from Rensselaer and competed in track & field.
• Lauren Maher (Ballston Lake, NY / Saratoga Central Catholic) was a three-time All-State selection in soccer.
• Maddie Mast (Philadelphia, PA / Central) owned her own baking business in high school. She is also skilled in building, having flipped a house, built a deck and finished a basement. Her aunt and uncle both played soccer at Wheaton College, where they both earned multiple All-America certificates.
• Julia Hubbard (Interlaken, NY / South Seneca) interned in Cornell's Material Science Program. Her older sister ran track at Nazareth.
• Maya Verma (Falls Churck, VA / J.E.B. Stuart) earned All-America in indoor high jump in 2018-19.
• Jordan Porter (Canajoharie, NY / Canajoharie) interned with Cascades Containerboard Packaging.
• Ellie Lisec (Oswego, NY / Oswego) interned at Procter & Gamble this past summer. She was given 4-5 projects to design and make the manufacturing line more efficient, which saved the company money.
• Alyssa Richtarek (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) was on a team that won the GeoWall 2020 competition held by Geo-Institute (G-I) of American Society of Civil Engineers Geo-Congress in Minneapolis in 2020. She is also part of Engineers Without Borders.
• Emily Vallee (Greenwich, NY / Schuylerville) also competes in basketball. Her brother is on Rensselaer's baseball team and her father also played baseball for the Engineers.
• Rachel Wnuk (Hagaman, NY / Galway Jr./Sr.) can recite the entire script to the How To Train Your Dragon movie.
• Jacy Scharlow (Spring Hill, FL / FW Springstead) earned NCAA All-America in both indoor and outdoor high jump as a freshman. She was later named the Rensselaer Female Freshman Athlete of the Year for 2018-19.
• Julia Dalakos (Niskayuna, NY / Niskayuna) is an accomplished musician (French horn). She is the fifth member of her family to attend Rensselaer, following her mother, father, brother and sister. Her sister, Sarah, competed on Rensselaer's track & field team, serving as a captain.
• Madison Perez (Dublin, CA / Amador Valley) competed in the USA Taekwondo Junior Olympics. She is involved in music, both as a musician (guitar, drums, piano) and as a producer.
• Delana Bonci (Claverack, NY / Taconic Hills) had a New York State Senate Legislative Resolution (#2784) presented in her honor (personal and academic achievements). Her father played baseball at Concordia College and her great uncle pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Atlanta Braves.
• Haley Korwan (Forked River, NJ / Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science) captained the No. 1 club field hockey team in the nation (WC Eagles) from 2018-20.
• Korwan, Bonci and sophomores Holly Lauzon (Carver, MA / Carver) and Morgan Lee compete on Rensselaer's field hockey team.
• Sarah Zdanowski (Fort Salonga, NY / Kings Park) also plays soccer (defense) for the Engineers.
• Annie Ward (Wellesley, MA / Wellesley) has a sister who rowed at Creighton. Their father played baseball at Notre Dame.
• Kelly Moran (Waldwick, NJ / Waldwick) has relatives who rowed at Union and played basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson Madison.
• Katie Unger (Bay Shore, NY / Bay Shore) is related to Brian Neglia, who graduated from Rensselaer and played football for the Engineers.
• Elizabeth Evans (Southbury, CT / Pomperaug) had had two internships with Procter and Gamble. The first was in manufacturing in Pennsylvania in 2019 and the second was with project management in Cincinnati in 2020. Her mother '91 played basketball at Rensselaer.
• Katie Zurek (Tupper Lake, NY / Tupper Lake) played two years of basketball at Rensselaer while also competing in track & field.

On attending Rensselaer:
"Rensselaer is a well respected school for engineering. Many companies respect the students that RPI sends into the workforce." - Ellie Lisec (August 2020)

"I attended Rensselaer due to the great number of job opportunities it provides when you graduate as well as the number of activities it provides to fulfill your passions." - Elizabeth Evans (August 2020)

"The reason behind attending Rensselaer was how welcoming the atmosphere felt when I did my overnight visit for track & field. With having a passion for track and STEM I felt like RPI would let me grow in both of those passions equally." - Ileana Sirois (August 2020)

Benefits of undergraduate community:
"I love all the collaboration that happens. I think there is an understanding that it is in everyone's best interest to work together when it comes to difficult classes and busy schedules, so I feel like there is a lot of support among the students and especially the student-athletes when it comes to balancing every aspect of the college experience. We all are going through much of the same experiences, and we all work together to get through the tough ones." - Annie Ward (August 2020)

"There are many benefits ranging from academic tutoring sessions and TA sessions all the way to physical and mental health functions as well to ensure that the RPI student has all the tools needed to succeed during there time here." - Ellie Lisec (August 2020)

"The small classes allow you to get to know man people in multiple majors. The location is also great for outdoor adventures and good eats." - Lorna Drexler (August 2020)

note: The roster is as of October 28, 2020, and is subject to change.