Balanced Attack Pushes Track and Field to Sixth Place at Springfield Invitational

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 17, 2010) – With junior Jacinta Edebeli and sophomore Miriam Larson-Koester leading the way, the Mount Holyoke College track and field team grabbed sixth place at the Springfield College Invitational today. A total of 11 Lyons recorded points in the team's final regular season meet of the spring.

The host Pride racked up 235 points en route to the team title. They were followed by Wheaton College (104) and the University of New Haven (75) in the top three. Mount Holyoke finished the day with 64 points. Ten squads from around the region took part in the meet.

Edebeli figured in on 20 points to pace the Lyons. The junior grabbed second place with a personal best time of 27.57 in the 200-meter dash. In addition to establishing a new personal record in the 100-meter dash with her sixth place time of 13.25, she also qualified for the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship in the event. Edebeli secured fourth place in the javelin with her toss of 28.41. She then teamed with classmate Bree Hollinger, sophomore Courtney Carrier and senior Temitope Ojo to post the fifth best time of 53.16 in the 4x100-meter relay.

Larson-Koester took home top honors in the discus with her throw of 37.05. She also secured sixth place in the hammer with a distance of 36.69.

The quartet of Carrier, Ojo, senior Kat Newman and sophomore Holly Valenzuela provided Mount Holyoke with eight points as a result of their third place showing in the 4x400-meter relay. They crossed the line in 4:34.06.

Meanwhile, first year Maddie Ballon recorded fifth place in the pole vault with her height of 2.52 meters, and classmate Elizabeth MacLauchlan collected fourth place in the 5,000-meter run with her time of 2:07.40.

Other scorers included Newman (200-meter dash), junior Emma Angus (3,000-meter steeplechase) and first year Meghan O’Grady (5,000-meter run).

Mount Holyoke will return to Springfield next Saturday for the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships. The meet is slated to get underway at 11:00 a.m.