Larson-Koester Earns All-New England Honors at NCAA Regional Championships

MEDFORD, Mass. (May 1, 2010) – Nine members of the Mount Holyoke College women's outdoor track and field team competed in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships today at Tufts University. Of the 31 teams earning points at the event, the Lyons finished in 23rd place. Williams College was the overall team champion.

Miriam Larson-Koester highlighted the weekend for the Lyons. The sophomore recorded a third place showing in the discus with a school record toss of 40.08 meters. As a result of her performance, she was awarded All-New England honors. In addition, she made Mount Holyoke eligible for the team standings with the six points that she earned. It was the second year in a row that she has earned All-New England honors in the event.

Larson-Koester also took part in both the hammer and shot put competitions. Her throw of 38.52 in the hammer was good for 11th place, while her toss of 10.25 meters put her in 27th place in the shot put.

First year Maddie Ballon grabbed 22nd place in the pole vault with her school record height of 2.80 meters. Meanwhile, sophomore Alicia Forrest took home 20th place in the shot put with her distance of 10.54 meters.

Ballon combined with junior Jacinta Edebeli, sophomore Courtney Carrier and senior Temitope Ojo to post an 18th place time of 52.97 in the 4x100-meter relay.

Additionally, Mount Holyoke’s 4x400-meter relay team of Carrier, senior Kat Newman sophomore Holly Valenzuela and first year Whitney Bailey secured 15th place with a time of 4:17.25.

Edebeli crossed the line in 13.41 to take 25th place in the 100-meter dash. Meanwhile, Newman’s time of 1:02.93 was good for 25th place in the 400-meter dash.

Larson-Koester will represent Mount Holyoke at next weekend’s New England Championships. The sophomore will take part in the discus competition at the meet, which is slated to begin on Friday and run through Saturday at Northeastern University.