Photo Courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics
Lauren Selkin ‘23 competing during her 2021 cross country season
By Emily Tarinelli ’25
Sports Editor
Mount Holyoke Track and Field swept the competition in the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Gordon Kelly Invitational this weekend. The unscored invitationals led to numerous personal bests and five Top 10 performances in Mount Holyoke’s program history.
On Feb. 11 and 12, five runners — Tessa Lancaster ’25, Lauren Selkin ’23, Simone Jacob ’22, Devan Ravino ’23 and Sydney Nash ’22 — represented the College at Boston University. Each athlete recorded a personal best in their respective events.
Lancaster opened the competition in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:10.84, the fourth fastest time in the Mount Holyoke indoor program’s history. The event was the third occasion in which Lancaster notched a Top 10 performance. Selkin also competed in the run, clocking a time of 17:29.58.
Selkin said that while this was her fastest time yet, she hopes to continue to improve so she can compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Both Selkin and Jacob spoke about their experience at the meet.
“I really enjoy the competitive atmosphere, being amongst great competitors and cheering on my teammates as they compete in their events,” Selkin said.
“The atmosphere at BU is electric. [There are] so many amazingly talented runners at the meet [and] it’s definitely a privilege to run in such an exciting environment,” Jacob said. “The banked track is really fast and bouncy, and people always have great [personal records] there. BU is where the magic happens.”
On Feb. 12, the Lyons continued their competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
On the field, Aria Mallare ’25 placed sixth in the high jump and secured a mark of 1.48 meters, tying the sixth-best mark in the program’s history. On the track, Amanda Kearney ’22 placed eighth in the 400-meter run and posted a personal record of 1:10.97. In the 60-meter dash, Mallare garnered another Mount Holyoke College Top 10 performance, finishing in 12th place at 8.33 seconds, the team’s fourth fastest time ever. Rocio Perez-Salas ’24 continued the streak by winning the 800-meter run and finishing at 2:25.60, the ninth fastest time in the program’s history.
The foursome of Perez-Salas, Jacob, Ravino and Eliza Butler ’23 recorded the final Top 10 performance of the weekend in the 4x400-meter run. With a winning time of 4:19.38, the Lyons posted the seventh fastest performance in the team’s history.
Head Coach Chris Kibler said that he was proud of his athletes and spoke about his outlook on the season as it progresses.
“Every single student-athlete improved on their competitive mindset, a crucial and foundational component to the team’s long term goals,” Kibler said. “This is the earliest in the spring semester that I have seen 100 percent of the team cultivate this mindset, meaning we are headed toward achieving our big things in April and May.”
Track and Field will continue its season at the Wheaton Invitational on Feb. 19.