Hannah and Madeline Rieders Earn USTFCCCA Division III Track and Field All-America Honors

Hannah and Madeline Rieders Earn USTFCCCA Division III Track and Field All-America Honors

New Orleans, La. - May 19, 2020 - Juniors Hannah Rieders (Wellesley, Mass.) and Madeline Rieders (Wellesley, Mass.) have been honored for their hard work during the 2019-20 indoor track and field season, as the duo earned United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-America honors, announced on Tuesday.

Due to the cancelation of the 2020 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship this past March, the USTFCCCA developed new guidelines for their All-America selection procedures, which is below:

Normal policies dictate that All-America honors are awarded to student-athletes who score any portion of a team point (top-eight in the final of an individual event or as a member of a top-eight placing relay event) at the NCAA Championships.

In lieu of conduction of the national championship this season, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA Division III Executive Committee adopted the following criteria:

  • Based on the selected participants for the national championships initially announced by the NCAA on Sunday, March 8, the following will be recognized as All-America for the 2020 Indoor Track & Field season:
    • Individual events: ALL student-athletes declared and initially accepted into their event.
    • Relay events: Members of ALL relays who produced the performance that was declared and initially accepted into their event.

The Rieders were two of 675 athletes from 161 different institutions that were honored on Tuesday.

Heading on to the national stage in March, the Rieders' had put together a 2019-20 season for the ages, as they both qualified in the women's 5k with a matching time of 17:11.60. This time was good for them to be tied for 6th in all of Division III in the event. In the region, the twins were in a tie for second overall.

Their time of 17:11.60 was also a Mount Holyoke College indoor track and field program record that the duo established at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on March 7. Also named USTFCCCA All-Region student-athletes at season's end, the duo of Madeline and Hannah Rieders was instrumental in the Lyons' success during the 2019-20 season, as Mount Holyoke College was slotted No. 14 in all of Division III in the women's 5k according to the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings.

This marks the first All-America selections from the Mount Holyoke College track and field program dating back to the 2016 season when Camille Coklow '16 earned her second All-America honor in the 60 meter dash. These mark the first All-America selections for head track and field and cross country coach Chris Kibler.

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