Lancaster, Rimando highlight Amherst Spring Fling for Lyons track and field

Tessa Lancaster became Mount Holyoke's second-fastest runner all-time in the outdoor 5,000 meters with a time of 17:49.91 at the Amherst Spring Fling on April 7, 2024. (RJB Sports file photo)

AMHERST, Mass. -- Junior Tessa Lancaster became the second-fastest outdoor 5,000 meters runner in Mount Holyoke track and field history, highlighting a number of personal-best performances by the Lyons on Sunday at the Amherst Spring Fling, a non-scoring meet that included student-athletes from Amherst, Brandeis, Bridgewater State, MIT, Middlebury, RPI, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Wheaton.

Lancaster (Mansfield, Mass.) finished the 5,000 meters in 17:49.91, second-fastest in a field of 18 runners and her fastest career outdoor time by a whopping 36.08 seconds. Lancaster passed Johanna Thomas (2004), Madeline Rieders (2019) and Hannah Rieders (2019) into second place on Mount Holyoke's all-time performance list in the event, behind only former teammate Lauren Selkin's 17:40.59 (2022).

Other Lyons highlights included:

Sophomore Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) made her outdoor collegiate debut in the long jump, and landed in fifth place on Mount Holyoke's all-time performance list in the event by topping out at 5.05 meters (16'7.0"), sixth-best in a field of 20 athletes.
Junior Kim Beaver (Agawam, Mass.) ran the second-fastest 800 meters of her career, seventh-fastest out of 21 competitors with a time of 2:22.02.
Junior Greta Trapp (La Crosse, Wis.) ran her best career time by 8.20 seconds in the 1,500 meters at 5:00.70, only 2.15 seconds outside of Mount Holyoke's all-time top 10 list.
Junior Lize Brown (New London, Conn.) led Mount Holyoke throwers in the shot put with a top effort of 8.53 meters (28'0.0"), 30th-best in a field of 37. Brown also led Mount Holyoke in the discus, at 26.60 meters, and in the javelin, where Brown was 14th out of 22 athletes at 23.31 meters (76'6.0").
Sophomore Em Tetzlaff (Bath, Maine) led Mount Holyoke throwers in the hammer, with a career-best distance of 31.34 meters (102'10").
Junior Chloe Broadwell (Plano, Texas) recorded a personal best in all three of the events she competed in: the shot put (7.25 meters), the discus (25.83 meters) and the hammer (26.54 meters).
Senior Olivia Johnson (Mount Desert, Maine) placed 32nd in the 1,500 meters in 5:17.06, and sophomore Katie Earle (East Kingston, N.H.) finished right behind in 33rd (5:17.71) in her collegiate debut in the event.