By Adam Levine
Sports Editor
The Framingham State University men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed at the MASCAC Cross Country Championship Meet Oct. 27.
Among the seven teams, Framingham’s women’s team placed third and the men’s team placed fourth.
At the 2022 MASCAC Cross Country Championship Meet, Framingham’s men’s and women’s team placed fifth and fourth, respectively.
In the 2023 MASCAC preseason polls, coaches across the conference predicted Framingham’s men’s and women’s team to place fifth and fourth, respectively.
Interim Head Coach Mark Johnson said, “I honestly couldn’t be happier with how both of our teams performed this year.
“I was personally very happy with how both teams performed at the MASCAC Championship,” he added.
Johnson said the goal for both teams was to place higher at the MASCAC Championship Meet than the previous year, as well as the preseason poll predictions.
Freshman Kate Buban led the women’s team with a finishing time of 20:46.39 and an eighth-place finish.
Buban placed highest among all rookies in the meet. She earned MASCAC Rookie of the Year for the season and earned a spot on the All-Conference Team.
She said, “I am happy that my hard work has been recognized.
“It is really cool to have my moment,” she added.
Buban said, “Although I would have liked to run a faster time, I know that I put my all into that race.
“I did my best,” she added.
Buban said she knows she “truly challenged” herself.
Senior captain Patrick Walsh led the men’s team with a finishing time of 27:48.59 and a fourth-place finish.
Walsh earned a spot on the All-Conference Team.
He said, “I’m fine with my individual performance.”
Walsh said he finished the race with “gas in the tank” and wished he pushed himself harder for a higher placement.
“Luckily, I’m planning on taking my master’s at Fram and hopefully taking advantage of the COVID year. The hope for the first-place spot isn’t gone yet,” he said.
Walsh said he is “proud” of the work from both the men’s and women’s teams this season.
He said the goal for the men’s team this season, given its small roster, was to stay healthy and compete at the MASCAC Championship Meet.
Walsh said the new goal is to recruit more and for both teams to place even higher at next year’s meet.
Both teams will compete at the NCAA Division III Regional Meet Nov. 11.
Buban said, “I am ready to run a faster time.
“I feel that I am capable of doing so - I will just really need to kick butt,” she added.
Coach Johnson said, “I am very confident that we’re going to have a strong showing at DIII Regionals.
“The teams have earned the opportunity to go out there and race against the best teams in the upper Northeast. So, I think no matter what, it’s going to be a fun and good day,” he added.