Photo courtesy of the Mount Holyoke College athletics department
Donari Yahzid ’19 jumped a distance of 5.15 meters, scoring third place in the long jump at Smith College on Saturday.
BY ANNA BALLOU '20
The Mount Holyoke track and field team opened its 2016-17 season on Saturday at local rival Smith College’s Winter Invitational. Although the meet did not record overall team scores, Mount Holyoke saw numerous athletes succeed in their respective events.
Donari Yahzid ’19 paved the way for the Lyons with several successful performances throughout the day. Yahzid’s best effort came from the long jump, with a distance of 5.15 meters and a third place finish overall among stiff competition. Yahzid was also 13th in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.61 seconds and 18th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 28.64 seconds.
The long jump also featured impressive efforts from Shante Henderson ’18 and Obaa Yaa Anin-Yeboah ’20. Henderson saw a 10th place finish with a jump of 4.44 meters and Anin-Yeboah finished 12th overall with a 4.37 meter jump.
Henderson also performed well in shot put, finishing 11th with a 9.54 meter throw. Following was teammate Julia Hecking ’19, who placed 13th with a throw of 9.31 meters.
The 5,000 meter run — the longest run of the day — saw Mia Barnes ’18 finish strong inninth place with a time of 19:52.13. Barnes was followed by Michelle Serrano ’20 with a 13th place finish at 20:32.91.
The one mile run and the 800 meter dash saw solid finishes from Kayla Dillon ’20 and Caitlin Lynch ’20. Dillon finished seventh in both events, at 6:07.65 and 2:48.21, respectively, while Lynch saw eighth place finishes in both events at 6:14.59 and 2:48.99, respectively.
The 400 meter dash saw Saarah Omar ’20, Sophie Desnoyers ’19 and Anne Demosthene ’18 finish 19th, 20th and 21st.
Minerva Veeser-Bobea ’20 had two solid performances for the day, beginning with a seventh place finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.32 seconds. Veeser-Bobeaalso had a ninth place finish in the 600 meter run.
The 3,000 meter run tested the endurance of Corrin Moss ’19, Emsie Cronin ’19, Emma Raney ’20, Brianna Weir ’17 and Julia Criscione ’18, who finished 11th, 16th, 17th, 19th and 22nd.
The meet ended strongly with a solid finish in the 4x400 meter relay. The team, which featured Henderson, Lynch, Emma Tolerton ’17 and Charleen Theroux ’20, finished with a time of 4:34.46.
After over a month long break, the Mount Holyoke track and field team will continue its season when it returns to Smith College on Jan. 21 for the Beynon Invitational.