Beaver becomes Lyons' fifth-fastest all-time in the 800 at Tufts Snowflake Classic

Kim Beaver beat her previous best time in the 800 meters by 3.72 seconds, finishing fourth out of 44 runners in the event at the Tufts Snowflake Classic on March 30, 2024. (RJB Sports file photo)

SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Mount Holyoke College junior Kim Beaver became the fifth-fastest 800-meter runner in team history with her personal record time on Saturday to highlight the Snowflake Classic at Tufts for the Lyons.

Beaver (Agawam, Mass.) placed fourth out of 44 runners and third among Division III runners in the 800 in 2:20.62, 3.72 seconds faster than her previous best mark. Beaver leapfrogged Sunny Shan (2015), Anne Richtmyer (2000), and Johanna Thomas (2003) to become the Lyons' fifth-fastest all-time in the 800.

Other Mount Holyoke highlights included:

Out of an original field of 46 sprinters, first-year Ioanna Tsoni (Athens, Greece) advanced to the semifinals of the 100 meters with a preliminary time of 12.97 seconds. Tsoni then ran the third-fastest time out of 16 athletes in the semifinals, at 12.95 seconds. She was held out of the finals as a precaution, and was therefore unable to score any team points for the Lyons, but Tsoni jumped onto Mount Holyoke's Top 10 all-time performance list in the 100 meters in eighth place.
Junior Elizabeth Gerbi (Orono, Maine) was fourth-fastest out of 13 runners in the 10,000 meters with a time of 40:34.48, only 4.45 seconds outside of Mount Holyoke's all-time top 10 list.
Junior Tessa Lancaster (Mansfield, Mass.) placed 11th among 58 runners in the 1,500 meters in a time of 5:01.66.
Junior Greta Trapp (La Crosse, Wis.) placed 17th in the 1,500 in a personal-best 5:08.90.
Junior Lize Brown (New London, Conn.) placed 14th among 44 competitors in the javelin, with a top effort of 26.73 meters (87'8").
Junior Erin Siegel (San Diego, Calif.) was 20th out of 35 in the discus (25.26 meters), and 21st out of 34 in the hammer (30.05 meters).
Sophomore Em Tetzlaff (Bath, Maine) led three Mount Holyoke throwers in the shot put, 23rd out of 34 overall at 8.22 meters.
First-year Dalia Luckhardt (Cerritos, Calif.) ran the 37th-fastest time in a field of 57 runners in the 200 meters, at 29.11 seconds.

The Lyons scored 10 team points in total to place 16th among 19 collegiate teams in team scoring. Mount Holyoke will next compete at the Amherst Spring Fling, Saturday April 6 at 10am.