Leominster, Mass. - September 7, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College cross country team raced hard and had outstanding group effort that resulted in the Lyons claiming the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational, held at the Doyle Conservation in Leominster, Mass. on Saturday afternoon. The first-place finish proved to be the first the program has seen since it won the Smith Invitational on September 12, 2015.
The Lyons were led by first-year Lauren Selkin (Greenwich, Conn.), who completed her first-ever 5k course in 19:10, as she was followed by Hannah Rieders (Wellesley, Mass.), who crossed in 19:12, and Madeline Rieders (Wellesley, Mass.), who finished in 19:14. Rounding out the top five for the Lyons was Simone Jacob (San Francisco, Calif.), as the junior crossed the finish line in 19:45, and Olivia Griesmer (Austin, Texas), who turned in a time of 19:48. Jacob's time of 19:45 was a course best for the junior, as Sydney Nash (New Hartford, Conn.) also put forth a course-best time of 19:54 to finish 12th overall.
Selkin was able to close the last mile of the race in 5:28 to move all the way up to fourth place overall, while Hannah Rieders closed in 5:30, followed by Madeline Rieders, who closed in 5:32 to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. This trio all raced career-best times on the 5k course, as well as Katie Milligan (Scituate, Mass.), who turned in a time of 20:46, Devan Ravino (West Kingston, R.I.), who crossed in 21:03, taking 2:25 off of her previous personal best. Also with a career-best effort on the day was Eliza Butler (Scarsdale, N.Y.), who finished the race in 22:56.
Mount Holyoke won the meet with 34 points, as the Lyons defeated regionally-ranked opponents University of New England, Keene State and Babson College, while also knocking off Division-II Bentley University.
Butler earned the team's "Kick of the Week" honor, while Milligan was named the "Runner of the Week". The "Teammate of the Week" was awarded to Emma Raney (Palo Alto, Calif.).
Up next, the Lyons will head to the UMass Dartmouth Invitational in North Dartmouth, Mass. on Saturday, September 21. The meet is set to begin at 12 p.m.
For the latest updates on Mount Holyoke College Athletics, follow the Lyons on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
