SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – As spring break approaches, several Mount Holyoke College teams are preparing to head South for various training trips and contests. Five Lyons’ teams will be in action next week during spring break, including lacrosse, golf, tennis, rowing and swimming.
Lacrosse, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Miriam Esber, heads to Bradenton, Fla., and will play a pair of games as part of the 19th Annual Spring Fling event at G.T. Bray Park. The Lyons will square-off against Bowdoin College on Monday and will then face Concordia (Wisc.) on Thursday. Both games are set for a 12:30pm start time.
The MHC golf team, led by fourth-year head coach Tim Walko, heads to Port St. Lucie, Fla., for its training trip. The Lyons will get in quality time on the links in Florida, including a match against Hamilton College – which is currently scheduled to kick-off on Tuesday at 12pm.
Heading the furthest South will be the Lyons’ tennis team, led by 22nd-year head coach Aldo Santiago. The squad will travel to Santiago’s native Puerto Rico to train and play. The Lyons will face off against the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez on Tuesday, before facing off against the University of Puerto Rico Bayamón on Wednesday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 10am.
Rowing, under the direction of first-year head coach Heather Putnam, will spend the majority of the coming week training on the waters in South Carolina. MHC will conclude its trip with a scrimmage against some critical competition. On Friday, the Lyons will face-off against Smith, William Smith and Trinity at Lake Lanier in Georgia. All three teams represent some of the best in the Northeast and several of MHC’s toughest competition for the Spring schedule.
Wrapping up the spring break travels is junior swimmer Cathleen Pruden, who heads to Shenandoah, Texas to compete at the 2015 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. Accompanied and guided by 17th-year head coach Dave Allen, Pruden returns to Nationals for the second straight season and will compete in the 200-IM (Wednesday), the 400-IM (Thursday) and the 1650-freestyle (Saturday).
Last season, Pruden became the first MHC swimmer to garner All-America honors (top-eight), finishing fourth overall in the 400-Individual Medley. She enters this year’s National Championships ranked second in the nation in the 400-IM, after winning the event at the NEWMAC Championships with a school-record and personal-best time of 4:21.83. Additionally, Pruden enters Nationals ranked 11th in the 1650-free (17:07.26) and 15th in the 200-IM (2:05.41).
Continue to follow all the action on the Mount Holyoke Athletics website throughout next week. Results will be posted for all teams as soon as the information comes in! Go Lyons!
