Geneva, OH --- WPI graduate-student Avinash Bissoondial (Millbury, MA) wrapped up a brilliant career at WPI on Saturday with an 8th place showing in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Division III Men's Track and Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute just outside of Cleveland, Ohio hosted by the North Coast Athletic Conference. 
 
The Crimson and Gray earned a team point for Bissoondial's showing and was one of 73 men's programs to score at the meet won by UW La Crosse by 20 points. 

Bissoondial clocked a time of 14:17.02, a mark closer to second place (14:15.04) than to ninth place (14:19.28).  The graduate student became WPI's first All-America in the 5,000 meter event and is the first Engineer All-America to post a top-eight finish after David Reynolds earned a second team All-America citation from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in the 10,000 meters last spring. 
 
Bissoondial worked his way back into the first team status after he sat 11th with 1,200 meters remaining.  He made up one spot with 400 meter splits of 1:07.68 and 1:08.23 before forcing himself on the podium with a blazing final lap time of 59.19 to nab eighth place. Lynchburg's Chasen Hunt won the event by more than five seconds over second place Quinn White of Pomona-Pitzer.
 
The performance concludes another strong season for WPI Track and Field.  The Engineers captured their second NEWMAC Championship and finished third at the New England Division III Championships earlier this month and on Thursday the 4x100 relay squad of Sam Manteria (Wilbraham, MA), Ethan Schnyer (Nashua, NH), Alex Cole (Weymouth, MA) and Tristan Andrew (Newtown, CT) finished 12th on the opening day of the NCAA Championships.
 
Results