Williamstown, Mass. - September 25, 2021 - The Mount Holyoke College cross country team traveled to the Purple Valley Classic hosted at Mount Greylock High School on Saturday afternoon and produced an 7th-place finish out of 12 teams competing on the 6k course.

Saturday's Purple Valley Classic featured some of the top-ranked Division III women's cross country programs in the country including sixth-ranked MIT and No. 8 Williams, as well as No. 11 Tufts, No. 13 Middlebury and No. 25 WPI according to the latest United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III National Rankings. Williams won the meet with 52 points, while MIT (64) and Tufts (79) rounded out the top three. 

Leading the Lyons with a fifth-place overall finish was standout junior Lauren Selkin (Greenwich, Conn.), who produced a time of 23:26.4 and was the top New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) runner on the course. Next for the Lyons was Simone Jacob (San Francisco, Calif.), who was 36th overall with a time of 25:34.4, just ahead of Madeline Rieders (Wellesley, Mass.), who was 38th and Hannah Rieders (Wellesley, Mass.) who was 44th. Madeline Rieders clocked in at 25:39.8, while Hannah Rieders posted a time of 25:52.6.

Getting their first action on a 6k course was first-year Tessa Lancaster (Mansfield, Mass.) who posted a time of 26:25.3 before sophomore Bridget Hall (Arlington, Mass.) and Olivia Johnson (Mount Desert, Maine) rounded out the Lyons' seven runners. Hall posted a time of 27:18.5, while Johnson crossed the finish line in 27:29.4. 

Up next, Mount Holyoke College will compete in the James Earley Invitational, hosted at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday, October 9.

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