Ireland Clare Kennedy and Bridget Hall '24 on Flag Friday Track and Field. Photo courtesy of the Mount Holyoke Athletics Department
By Gigi Picard ’22
Sports Editor
Last week, the Mount Holyoke athletics department participated in the NCAA’s Division III Week with its own spirit week. According to the NCAA, the purpose of Division III Week is to “celebrate the impact of athletics and of student-athletes on the campus and surrounding community.” National Student-Athlete Day took place during Division III Week on April 6.
Additionally, in a fitting turn of events, the swimming and diving team has been able to put together competitions with local colleges, the first of which took place during DIII Week at home against Elms College. Mount Holyoke Volleyball also has a competition coming up soon.
From April 5 to April 11, Mount Holyoke Athletics geared up for Movie Monday, when athletes could dress up as their favorite movie character; Twin Tuesday, when people could twin for the day; Western Wednesday to get their cowboy hats and horses; Tye Dye Thursday, when tie-dye was the dress code; and Flag Friday, when people could dress like any flag that meant something to them. Over the weekend, athletes could dress in MHC class colors on Saturday and wear a school spirit outfit on Sunday.
The Mount Holyoke Athletics Instagram page posted activities for athletes to participate in and share on their Instagram stories, such as a This or That-style game in which athletes had to pick between a water sport or a land sport and tag their athletic friends. Another activity was a shared MHC Bingo graphic on which students could check off things they did while being a student-athlete at MHC, like taking a walk around Lower Lake, almost being attacked by Jorge or forgetting to shower after practice.
To conclude Mount Holyoke Athletics’ spirit week, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council hosted a carnival featuring outdoor lawn games and temporary tattoos on Skinner Green. “It felt like we had a little bit of our old athletic traditions back again since we were able to rally together and just celebrate being a DIII college. It was especially nice since we didn’t get to do so last year, so I could feel our athletic department itching to do something fun,” said Mount Holyoke Track and Field athlete Leah Pendl-Robinson ’22.