Indoor Track & Field Grabs Tenth Place at Tufts Invitational

MEDFORD, Mass. (Feb. 2, 2008) - Facing off against some of the toughest competition from around the region, the Mount Holyoke College women's indoor track and field team earned a tenth place finish at today's Tufts University Invitational at the Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center. Senior Meghan Lynch (South Hadley, Mass./Holyoke Catholic) highlighted the day for the Lyons, racing to a first place finish in the 5,000-meter run. Her time of 18:36.71 was a new school record and qualified her for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship.

Tufts dominated the 14 team field with a score of 160 points. The University of Massachusetts Lowell grabbed second place with 124 points, while Springfield College rounded out the top three with 72 points. Wheaton College (64), Ithaca College (55), Brandeis University (50.5), Amherst College (44), Stonehill College (41.5) and Wesleyan University (33) all finished in front of Mount Holyoke. The Lyons 31 points put them ahead of Connecticut College (23), Trinity College (16), WPI (9) and the Coast Guard Academy (8).

In addition to Lynch, several other seniors posted outstanding results in the 5,000-meter run. Catherine Riffin (Weston, Mass./Weston) finished in second place with a time of 18:57.70, while Joan Meiners (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) nabbed fourth with a personal record time of 19:51.47. Rounding out the field was Julia Wagner (Woods Hole, Mass./Falmouth Academy), who notched a season-best time of 20:31.04.

Sophomore Jess Brezicha (Olympia, Wash./Olympia) represented Mount Holyoke in multiple events, narrowly missing finals in the 55-meter hurdles and the triple jump. Her time of 9.57 in the 55-meter hurdles was her best of the season and qualified her for the NCAA Division III Regional Championships. Her distance of 9.74 in the triple jump and time of 8.17 in the 55-meter dash were both persona records.

The Lyons also received a boost from senior Caroline Gillaspie (Athens, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens), who garnered sixth place in the high jump with a season-best height of 5'1".

Natasha Payes (Novata, Calif./Abraham Lincoln), Ebony Williams (Detroit, Mich./University Liggett), Crystal Boateng and Grace Zeigler (Oak Hill, Ill./Neuqua Valley) teamed up to post a season-best time of 1:54.59 in the 4x200-meter relay.

Meanwhile, first year Senia Bachir-Abderahman (3,000-meter run - 11:45.21) and classmate Tracy Etkins (55-meter dash - 8.10) registered personal records in their respective events.

Mount Holyoke will return to action next Saturday, when it competes in the Smith College Invitational beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/stories/5527727