Tessa Lancaster '25, XC invitational
Photo Courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics
By Genevieve Zahner ’26
Sports Editor
Among 30 participating Division III cross country teams, Mount Holyoke College placed fourth at the multi-divisional University of Massachusetts Dartmouth invitational, persevering through rain and mud. Connecticut College, Keene State College and Westfield State University placed in front of the Lyons at the meet on Sept. 21.
“The meet course this week was pretty flat and fast and there were so many schools including [Division I] schools like Boston College, Northeastern [University] and Brown [University] so I knew that the race I would be running would be highly competitive and fast. I went into it thinking that I run my own race and it doesn't really matter where everyone else is,” Anjali Phadnis ’27, who came in 191st place out of 346 runners, said in an email to Mount Holyoke News.
Coming in 1st for Mount Holyoke and 13th within the Division III runners was Tessa Lancaster ’25, also coming in 55th place out of 346 overall with a time of 19:16.25. 2ndfor Mount Holyoke and 71st overall was Elizabeth Gerbi ’25 with a time of 19:30.16. 3rd for the Lyons and 90th overall was Kim Beaver ’25 who ran the course in 19:42.35. 4th and 5th for Mount Holyoke were Greta Trapp ’25, who finished in 20:23.78, and Dalia Luckhardt ’27, who finished in 20:58.40. They came in 145th and 181st respectively.
“We joked about this meet being the chance to revisit our childhood joy of jumping into puddles and getting muddy just because it was fun, and that's exactly what we did,” Phadnis said. “It shows just how awesome the team dynamic is and even when everything feels grim and cloudy, we make it feel good.”
Five runners participated in the junior varsity race: Megan Gerbi ’28, Katie Earle ’26, Maya Evans ’26, Anita Konokopa ’27 and Katherine Herring ’28. Out of 174 runners, Megan Gerbi finished 54th in 21:23.71, Earle placed 73rd in 21:55.14, and Evans placed 77th in 22:05.64. Konokopa and Herring finished after them, placing in 87th with a time of 22:25.44 and 88th with a time of 22:25.95, respectively.
“Going into the race, I felt nervous but excited. My teammates’ great team spirit and motivation helped me stay positive amidst the constant rain and mud,” Herring said in an email to Mount Holyoke News.
“We have so much great talent this year and are getting stronger with each meet,” Earle said in an email to Mount Holyoke News. “Even our very first meet back … went really well for a lot of people, so I am super optimistic that we are going to place really well in future races and during championship season.”
“I'm proud of us for making the best of some really not ideal conditions and not letting that psych us out. Instead we had fun and played in the mud,” Earle said.
Mount Holyoke Cross Country next competes at the Keene State Invitational on Oct. 5 at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire.