Cross country finishes sixth in competitive field; Selkin finishes as top NEWMAC runner

Lily Nemirovsky (left) and Greta Trapp (right) finished fourth and third for Mount Holyoke, respectively, with big personal-best times at the Purple Valley Classic on Oct. 1, 2022. (RJB Sports file photo)

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Senior Lauren Selkin claimed second place overall, leading the Mount Holyoke College cross country team to a sixth-place team finish out of 11 teams on Saturday at the Purple Valley Classic hosted by Williams College.

Finishing in second place out of 121 runners overall, Selkin (Greenwich, Conn.) was the top New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) finisher in the field. The senior averaged 6:05.9 per mile for an overall time of 22:44.3.

Mount Holyoke scored 180 points, good for sixth place overall in the competitive field of four nationally ranked teams. The Lyons finished just after Smith College in fifth place with 116 points and before Westfield State in seventh place with 207 points.

Junior Bridget Hall (Arlington, Mass.) was second for the Lyons, finishing in 37th place by posting a 6k personal best of 25:07.4. Sophomore Greta Trapp (La Crosse, Wis.) followed in 50th, also nabbing a 6k personal best of 25:44.4, while junior Lily Nemirovsky (Bedford, Mass.) finished in 66th notching a 6k personal record of 26:06.1. Sophomore Kim Beaver (Agawam, Mass.) followed just behind Nemirovsky in 67th (26:08.1).

Senior Devan Ravino (West Kingston, R.I.) finished in 74th place recording a time of 26:43.8, while sophomore Olivia Johnson (Mount Desert, Maine) finished in 87th 27:37.9 as Mount Holyoke's two scoring displacers.

Senior Amanda Kearney (Teaneck, N.J.) finished in 105th (29:52.2), followed by classmate Eliza Butler (Hartsdale, N.Y.) in 107 (30:03.1) and first-year Emma Quirk (Middleton, Mass.) in 108th place (30:06.4).

"We executed really well today," said head coach Jay Hartshorn. "Lauren had another very solid race and moved from third to second in the last 1k. We ran without (sophomore Tessa Lancaster) this week and our pack really stepped up and ran very solid races. The course is the hardest one we will see all year. It will give us confidence as enter the second half of the season."

Mount Holyoke resumes competition at the Connecticut College Invitational hosted at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Conn. on Saturday, October 15 at 12 pm.