WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College cross country team opened the 2024-25 academic year in Lyons athletics in impressive fashion, finishing fourth out of eight teams while outracing three conference rivals Friday night at the Wellesley Invitational.

With seven runners among the top 40 collegiate runners, the Lyons scored 118 points, outpacing NEWMAC rivals Springfield (131), Clark (145) and Salve Regina (145) along with Simmons (252). The top three teams, all regionally ranked, were all NEWMAC rivals as well: Smith (34) took first place, followed by Coast Guard (73) and Wellesley (77).

Senior captain Tessa Lancaster (Mansfield, Mass.) carried her frontrunner status for the Lyons forward into the new season, placing 11th among 103 runners with a time of 19:00.6 over 5 kilometers at Nehoiden Golf Course.

Three track and field team members who made their Lyons cross country debuts made significant impacts in the team's fortunes, none more so than senior Elizabeth Gerbi (Orono, Maine), who took 17th place in 19:32.9. Mount Holyoke sophomores Dalia Luckhardt (Cerritos, Calif.) and Anjali Phadnis (San Marcos, Calif.), two additional newcomers from track, placed 51st (21:05.1) and 55th (21:13.3), respectively, as Mount Holyoke's fifth and sixth runners to cross the finish line.

Senior Kim Beaver (Agawam, Mass.) placed 25th overall in 19:45.1, third fastest on the Lyons, while senior Greta Trapp (La Crosse, Wis.) placed 44th (20:39.3), fourth on the team.

First-year Megan Gerbi (Orono, Maine) made her collegiate debut as Mount Holyoke's second scoring displacer behind Phadnis, finishing seventh on the team and 59th overall in 21:23.8.

The Lyons race again on Saturday, Sept. 21 at noon at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational.