Stephanie A. Pavao has been elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame for her achievements in the sport of track and field.
Pavao, Class of '96, was a track tour-de-force at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, Mass. Besides winning multiple state and New England titles, she set King Philip records in the 50, 100, 200, 300 and long jump.
The first inkling that she would become New England's premier collegiate jumper came in her freshman year of 1991, when she broke the Northeastern indoor and outdoor long jump records and won the America East outdoor long jump title. Her sophomore season, she not only dominated the long jump but also the triple jump. She won the conference outdoor long jump for the second time as well as the New England outdoor long jump. In the triple jump she broke the NU record and won both the America East and New England championships.
In 1993 she was redshirted for the outdoor season after an injury-riddled indoors that saw her only gold in the New England long jump. Returning for her junior season, she dominated again despite the season off. Indoors, she won both the long jump and triple jump at America East and won the New England long jump. Outdoors, she swept the America East long and triple jump, then duplicated the feat at New Englands.
Her final season was her finest. At the America East Championship, she won the long jump and triple jump, took second in the 100, and was a member of the winning 4x100 relay. For that, Pavao was named the Outstanding Performer by the conference. At New Englands, she won her third straight long jump title and her second straight triple jump championship.
Pavao left NU holding all the school long and triple jump records. She boasted seven New England titles, two indoor and five outdoors. In America East competition, she piled up a dozen gold medals, four in the outdoor long jump, three in the outdoor triple jump, three in the 4x100 relay and one each in the indoor triple and long jumps. Her final season, she ranked 15th nationally in the long jump. Her point production powers abled Northeastern to win two conference indoor championships and three outdoor.
