Game of the Week: Track and Field finishes regular season

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics.
Abby Elliott ’25 focuses while doing the javelin throw at the Jerry Gravel Invitational on April 16.

By Gigi Picard ’22

Sports Editor

Mount Holyoke Track and Field finished their regular season at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sean Collier Invitational on Saturday, April 23. 

Emma Doyle ’23 placed 12th in the discus throw with a season best of 31.07 meters. Doyle’s throw was the eighth best in Mount Holyoke Track and Field history. In the shot put, Doyle set a personal best at a 10.75 meter mark, landing eighth place overall with a sixth-place ranking in the Mount Holyoke program’s history.

On the javelin front, Allyson Joseph ’24 finished 13th at 22.78 meters, while Abby Elliott ’25 placed 20th at 16.48 meters.

“I felt pretty good about my performance and did much better than I expected,” Elliott said. “I think the team's attitude right now is very determined on giving it our all. I think a lot of us really are proud of ourselves and our performance in our last meet.”

On the track, Emily Hood ’24’s 3000-meter steeplechase landed her in third place with a time of 12:40.57 minutes. Hood’s finish was the seventh-fastest time for the event in the team’s history.

Tessa Lancaster ’25 finished fourth in the 1500-meter run, posting a time of 4:56.41 minutes, which is the eighth-fastest time in Mount Holyoke’s history. Sydney Nash ’22 earned a season best, finishing seventh in 5:12.25 minutes. 

In the 400-meter dash, Simone Jacob ’22 placed eighth, claiming a personal best and the sixth-fastest program time with 1:01.72 minutes. 

“Coming off of a [personal record] this week is a great way to go into our championship meet feeling confident but also rested,” Jacob said. “We are super excited to go into the championship season and put all of our hard work over the last months towards showing the other schools in the [New England Women’s and Men’s Conference] what we can do as a team.”

Leah Pendl-Robinson ’22 earned a top-20 time in the 100-meter dash, running the event in 14.61 seconds after missing most of the track and field season due to an injury. 

“I felt a bit bummed about the season since I was out of commission for most of it, but now that I have been back for a couple of meets and weeks of practice I feel like I have a spark again inside me ready to compete,” Pendl-Robinson said. “I’m extra excited for what’s to come.”

“It is also my senior year and now that it is coming to a close I realize how much I will miss competing with the team and having those early morning practices with all my friends,” Pendl-Robinson continued. “I just want to thank everyone who has helped me along my recovery journey for my injury and … helped me to come back in the last few meets of my [undergraduate] athletic career.”

Lauren Selkin ’23 ran the 800-meter race and placed fourth with a time of 2:24.99 minutes. Despite it not being her usual event, her time is the ninth fastest in Mount Holyoke Track and Field history.

“I’m more of a distance runner, but it was fun to run and [root] my teammates on. I’m looking forward to the upcoming championship season. … I’m super excited to be part of the intense competition,” Selkin said.

Addison Heintz ’25 finished 12th in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 27.93 seconds. 

“I am feeling good about my performance so far this season. … The season has been rewarding, it has been great to look back and see how much I improved and how much the team has improved as well,” Heintz said.

Track and Field finished the invite with the 4x400 meter relay run, where Kim Beaver ’25, Greta Trapp ’25, Jacob and Lancaster came in second place. With a time of 4:17.99 minutes, the relay team ran the eighth-fastest time in the program’s history.

“I am happy with the overall team performance from this past weekend. There were numerous [personal records] and season bests,” Track and Field’s Assistant Coach Alex Rachmaciej said. 

On Saturday, April 30, the Lyons will travel to Smith College for the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference championship meet. 

“Prep for championships looks like more rest for the athletes. This part of the season, we keep the intensity high and volume low so the athletes feel good going into the meets,” Rachmaciej stated. 

The official season end for Track and Field will be the three-day NCAA Division III Championships in Geneva, Ohio from May 26-28.

Rachmaciej said that, “Takeaways we had for the season are that some of the areas that we lacked in the past are turning around and the team is becoming more well-rounded.”

COVID cases grow in the Olympic Village as competitions carry on

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

By Gigi Picard ’22

Sports Editor

After a year-long wait, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have officially kicked off. Due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Japan that led to a state of emergency, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are not allowing spectators. Now, the athletes are paying the price — and not just from a lack of fans to cheer them on. The athletes themselves are testing positive for the coronavirus, resulting in either self-isolation from other athletes or disqualification from the Olympics altogether. CNBC reported that two days before the opening ceremony of the games, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world is on the verge of another wave of the pandemic.

After they arrived at the Olympic Village, three members from South Africa’s football team tested positive for COVID-19. CNN reported the three as football players Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi and video analyst Mario Masha. As a result, the entire South African Olympic team went into quarantine.

The most recent example of an athlete testing positive for COVID-19 was USA pole vaulter Sam Kendricks. According to ESPN, he took home a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics and gold at the past two world championships, and holds the American record for the highest jump at 19 feet and 10.5 inches. Kendricks will not be able to compete in the Olympics, though some of his teammates are still permitted to. He reportedly showed no symptoms and is currently isolating at a hotel. Several Australian track and field athletes were briefly told to isolate as well, as they were in contact with Kendricks. 

The Guardian reported the number of COVID-19 cases in the Olympic Village has hit 198. 

The Games themselves will feature 33 sports, with baseball, softball, skateboarding, karate, sports climbing and surfing added to the program. It began July 23, 2021 with the televised opening ceremony. One day before the ceremony took place, the creative director of the opening ceremony, Kentaro Kobayashi, was fired. CBS News reported that a video of a 1998 comedy routine he performed resurfaced, in which he seemed to “joke about the Holocaust.” The Associated Press shared a statement by Olympic Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto. “We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy. We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country," Hashimoto said. 

The televised event was hosted by sportscaster Mike Tirico and co-anchor of Today Savannah Guthrie. According to NBC Sports Group, Tirico said the Opening Ceremony “is a memorable part of any Olympic Games, but perhaps it has never carried more meaning given the circumstances the world has been facing.” Guthrie also offered insight, saying, “[People] want to watch that moment when someone’s life changes before your eyes. I’m excited. I think people are going to really catch the fever. There is nothing like the Olympics.”

The ceremony lasted approximately four hours. NBC Sports reported drones flying over the sky during the ceremony to create an image of the Earth, with fireworks displayed as well. The ceremony also featured tap dancers dressed as carpenters, who danced as other performers assembled Olympic rings out of wood from Japanese trees. The seeds of the trees were planted by athletes of various countries who participated in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Additionally, athletes from 205 countries, including the Refugee Olympic Team, came out in Japanese alphabetical order, each with at least one flag bearer. The International Olympic Committee insisted on both a male and female flag bearer per country to promote gender equality; however, not all nations complied, with some having a sole male or female flag bearer. The final three teams were Japan, France and the United States, as they are either future host countries or the current host country. 

The finale of the ceremony consisted of a torch relay, concluding with Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka lighting the Olympic cauldron. 

Several major Olympic stories have come from women’s sports in judo, swimming and gymnastics. 

Japanese brother and sister judokas became the first siblings to win gold on the same day, according to Today. Uta Abe defeated her opponent in the women’s 52-kilogram category. “This was a dream for us,” Uta told reporters, when asked about achieving simultaneous gold medals with her brother. “It makes me believe dream comes true as long as I try to achieve it.” Her brother, Hifumi, won gold in the men’s 66-kilogram category, hours after Uta. 

Meanwhile, in the pool, Lydia Jacoby made headlines at NBC News as the first American from Alaska to swim in the Olympic Games. Jacoby took home gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, dethroning fellow American Lilly King, who won bronze. The Olympic pool is 50 meters, but since there is only one 50-meter pool in Alaska, Jacoby is used to training in short course yards. Still, that didn’t stop her from dominating at the Olympic scale. “I was definitely racing for a medal,” Jacoby said. “I knew I had it in me. I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard, it was insane.”

Even with major successes in the pool, the main story of this week came from women’s gymnastics. Partway through the team finals, U.S. gold medal favorite Simone Biles pulled out of the competition after the vault event, due to a medical issue she later revealed was tied to her mental health. “Warmup in the back went a little bit better, but then once I came out here, I was like, no, mental is not there, so I just need to let the girls do it and focus on myself,” Biles said.

Biles scored a 13.766 out of a possible 15.8 points during the vault because of an unexpected switch in her routine. The four-time Olympic gold medalist competed in Team USA's first rotation, bailing out of her Amanar and only completing a 1.5 twist on a 2.5-twisting Yurchenko, then taking a big stumble on the landing. Her teammates knew immediately that something was wrong when Biles seemed to lose her place in the air during the vault. In the qualifying rounds, Biles had a score of 15.183. Since her withdrawal, Biles has revealed on social media that she is struggling with a phenomenon gymnasts call “the twisties” — a dangerous kind of mid-air vertigo that can be extremely hard to shake. Last Friday, Biles said she “literally can not tell up from down.” 

Without Biles, the United States women’s team won the silver medal. Biles hoped to continue competing in the individual events, which includes the individual all-around and individual apparatus events — floor exercise, beam, vault and uneven bars. CNBC reported Biles also pulled out of the individual all-around, an event in which she won gold at the 2016 Rio Games. 

“[Biles] will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals,” USA Gymnastics commented. “We wholeheartedly support [Biles]’ decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many.” Her teammate Jade Carey took her place in the all-around final, alongside Suni Lee for Team USA. Carey had originally placed ninth in the qualifying rounds.

In an interview with Hoda Kotb on the Today show, Biles said, “Physically, I feel good. I’m in shape. Emotionally, it varies on the time and moment. Coming to the Olympics and being head star isn’t an easy feat.” 

During an interview with Tirico, retired Olympic USA swimmer Michael Phelps discussed how he can relate to Biles. “We carry a lot of things, a lot of weight on our shoulders. And it’s challenging, especially when we have the lights on us and all of these expectations that are being thrown on top of us,” Phelps said. 

Lee, the first Hmong American to participate in the Olympic Games, took gold in the individual all-around. Biles shared a video of Lee dancing with the medal on her Instagram with text saying: “THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED.” 

According to the latest available updates from NBC Olympics, Biles has pulled out of the vault, floor and uneven bar individual event finals. Her teammate MyKayla Skinner will take her place in the vault finals after originally placing fourth in the qualifying rounds. In response to her choice, USA Gymnastics stated, “We remain in awe of Simone, who continues to handle this situation with courage and grace, and all of the athletes who have stepped up during these unexpected circumstances.”

Meanwhile, across other sports Olympic and world records continue to be shattered by male and female athletes alike. For example, in men’s sports, 27-year-old Shi Zhiyong of China lifted 364 kilograms in weightlifting, breaking his own world record and earning him gold in back-to-back Olympics. Then, in men’s swimming, the United States’ Caeleb Dressel and Australia’s Izaac Stubblety-Cook were two of several swimmers who set Olympic records and won individual gold medals. In women’s swimming, Zhang Yufei of China won an individual gold medal and set an Olympic record time, as well as helping China set a world record time in the women’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay event. 

The overall medal count has the United States in first place, China in second place and the Russian Olympic Committee in third. 

There’s less than a week left of the 2020 Olympic Games. To track the sports that are beginning this week, refer to the table.

The summer paralympic games will begin on Aug. 24 and end on Sep. 5, 2021.