SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College cross country team will open a 2023 season that promises to be intriguing at the Wellesley Invitational, taking place at 6:30pm on Friday, Sept. 1 on the campus of Wellesley College.
"I am really excited about this year," said second-year head coach Jay Hartshorn. "We return a great core group who all got better during the track season. It's always fun to go into a season where you feel like you have so much potential."
The Lyons placed sixth out of 11 teams at the 2022 NEWMAC Championships, led by a second-place overall finish from the team's since-graduated frontrunner, Lauren Selkin.
Selkin graduated in December, following an outstanding career that included two NCAA Championship appearances. Mount Holyoke also graduated three other runners from the 2022 team, including another top-five performer in Devan Ravino.
Losing such an outstanding runner can only hurt a cross country team in the scoring department at meets, and Mount Holyoke this year is picked by NEWMAC coaches to finish eighth out of 12 teams (Salve Regina becomes the NEWMAC's 12th team this year).
But that pick remains a testament to the strong team remaining. Captained by senior Bridget Hall (Arlington, Mass.), junior Tessa Lancaster (Mansfield, Mass.), and junior Greta Trapp (La Crosse, Wis.), Mount Holyoke is poised to demonstrate it remains a highly competitive program with impressive depth.
In addition to the captains, the Lyons have returning top runners in junior Kim Beaver (Agawam, Mass.), junior Olivia Johnson (Mount Desert, Maine), and senior Lily Nemirovsky (Bedford, Mass.). In addition to a first-year class of three student-athletes, they also have added four strong runners who weren't on the team a year ago: sophomore Maya Evans (Topsfield, Mass.) and senior Orion Griesmer (Austin, Texas), who joined the track team as distance runners last winter; sophomore Ava Frost (Hardwick, Mass.), who transferred from Clarkson University; and sophomore Katie Earle (East Kingston, N.H.).
Following the season opener at Wellesley, Mount Holyoke will compete at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Sept. 16; the Keene State Invitational on Sept. 30; and the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct. 14 before championship season begins with the NEWMAC Championships on Oct. 28.
