Outdoor Track and Field Competes in New England Regional Championships

NEW LONDON, Conn. (May 3, 2008) - Several members of the Mount Holyoke College women's outdoor track and field team competed in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships this weekend at the Coast Guard Academy. Of the 28 teams earning points at the event, the Lyons finished in 22nd place. Williams College was the overall team champion.

Senior Grace Zeigler (Oak Hill, Ill./Neuqua Valley) highlighted the weekend for Mount Holyoke, posting a third place showing in the long jump with a distance of 5.18 meters. She earned All-New England honors as a result of her finish, which also added six points to the Lyons team total. Zeigler competed in the 100-meter dash as well, grabbing 19th place with a time of 13.34. She teamed with Natasha Payes (Novata, Calif./Abraham Lincoln), Charisse Pickron (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) and Crystal Boateng (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug) to grab a 13th place result (52.86) in the 4 x 100-meter relay.

Mount Holyoke received a boost from senior Meghan Lynch (South Hadley, Mass./Holyoke Catholic), who collected an eighth place result in the 10,000-meter run. Her time of 38.41.99 was a personal best, and she earned a point for the team. Sophomore Senia Bachir-Abderahman (Tindouf, Algeria/Red Cross Nordic) also competed in the race but was forced to retire due to injury.

Senior Joan Meiners (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) overcame an injury that had sidelined her for almost a month to achieve a personal best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Her time of 12:41.05 broke her previous school record by eight seconds.

Halaina Demba (Harvard, Mass./Bromfield) (1,500-meter run), Caroline Gillaspie (Athens, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) (high jump) and Jess Brezicha (Olympia, Wash./Olympia) (100-meter hurdles) also participated in the competition.

Mount Holyoke will return to action next weekend at the Open New England Championships. The event, which will be hosted by the University of New Hampshire, is slated to begin on Friday and conclude on Saturday.

Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/stories/5571283