Cross country led by Gerbi(s) in two races at Connecticut College Invitational

Senior Elizabeth Gerbi crossed the finish line first for the Mount Holyoke cross country team at the Connecticut College Invitational Women's Blue race on Oct. 19, 2024. (RJB Sports file photo)

WATERFORD, Conn. -- The Mount Holyoke College cross country team competed in its biggest and toughest meet thus far this season at the Connecticut College Invitational, placing 29th out of 37 teams in the women's Blue varsity race in the Lyons' final tuneup before the NEWMAC Championships.

Mount Holyoke also ran in the women's White, or JV, race, placing 18th out of 25 teams.

With many of the top Division III teams competing at Harkness State Park, MIT took first place in the Blue race with 83 points, with NYU (101), Williams (106), Washington and Lee (189) and Amherst (211) rounding out the top five places.

Mount Holyoke scored 828 points, tying with Denison University but placing ahead of Denison in the standings due to a 3-2 head-to-head advantage among the teams' top five respective runners.

Senior Elizabeth Gerbi (Orono, Maine) crossed the finish line first for the Lyons for the first time, completing the course in 23:40.0, a 6:21.2-per-mile pace, to take 152nd place among 285 runners in the field. Senior Kim Beaver (Agawam, Mass.) was just one place and 1.5 seconds behind Gerbi in 23:41.5. Senior Tessa Lancaster (Mansfield, Mass.) was close behind them in 158th place (23:46.9).

Senior Greta Trapp (La Crosse, Wis.) finished 203rd overall in 24:43.5 and sophomore Anjali Phadnis (San Marcos, Calif.) completed the Lyons' scoring in 24:53.0 for 214th place. Sophomore Dalia Luckhardt (Cerritos, Calif.) was the team's lone scoring displacer in 236th place (25:18.7).

First-year Megan Gerbi (Orono, Maine), Elizabeth's sister, led the Lyons in the 6K White race, finishing 120th overall among 250 runners in a time of 25:22.0, a 6:48.2 pace.

Junior Katie Earle (East Kingston, N.H.) finished two places behind in 122nd overall in 25:24.6. First-year Katherine Herring (Lebanon, N.H.) followed for the Lyons in 138th place (25:49.4), followed by sophomore Anita Konopka (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) in 145th (25:58.6), and junior Maya Evans (Topsfield, Mass.) in 176th (26:39.9).

The Lyons race in the NEWMAC Championships Saturday Nov. 2 at 11am at Wellesley College.