TROY, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athletes
Matt Lecky and
Justin Park have been selected to the 2021-22 Academic All-America men's track & field/cross country first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), it has been announced. It is the first year being honored for Lecky, while Park was a second team selection last season.
A junior distance runner, Lecky (Middletown, CT / Middletown) earned three All-America certificates this past year, including one in cross country and two in indoor track. He was 38th at the national cross country meet in the fall, fifth in the 3000 meters at the Division III Indoor Championship and part of the seventh-place indoor distance medley relay squad in March. Lecky, who also qualified for outdoor nationals in the 5000 meters (9th place), was the Liberty League Runner of the Year in both cross country and indoor track. He was a conference weekly Performer of the Week eight times and All-Region six times.
A chemistry major with a 3.97 cumulative grade point average, Lecky is a multiple Liberty League All-Academic and Dean's Honor List honoree. He is a member of Phi Lambda Upsilon, Rensselaer's chemistry honor society, who is interning at Dyno Nobel Inc. and performing chemistry research and development.
Park (York, ME / York), a thrower, is a five-time winner and three-time runner-up in the javelin during his career. He set personal-bests in the hammer and shot put in 2021-22. A conference All-Academic and Dean's Honor's List selection, he is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The applied physics and geology dual major who minored in astrobiology and philosophy, he graduated with a 3.98 GPA as an undergraduate in 2021. Now a Ph.D. candidate in geology, he is involved in research in astrobiology while also serving with the I-PERSIST (Integrative - Program for Education, Research, and Support Involving Science and Technology) Mentor program. The recipient of the Robert G. Lafleur Geology Award, he had an internship with Sponge-Jet Inc. Engineering Technologies.
