Women’s track and field ends record-breaking season: Beck, Buban win MASCAC titles, Grimaldo makes history at Regionals

Izabela Gage / THE GATEPOST

By Izabela Gage Sports Editor The Framingham State women’s track and field team concluded their season with commanding performances at the MASCAC Championship and the NCAA DIII Regionals, marking one of the most successful years in program history. The team showed determination across various events with school records broken, personal bests achieved, and two Rams earning championship titles. At the MASCAC Championship on April 25, senior thrower Kaylee Beck delivered a career-defining performance in the hammer throw. She launched a throw of 44.06 meters to earn first place, a staggering 3.87 meters ahead of the second-place finisher. This record crushed her previous personal best of 34.19 meters and earned her the title of MASCAC Champion. Beck said, “Ending my senior season as a champion was honestly such a blessing. It was such a great opportunity to end on a high note.” She broke the school record of 34.50 meters, which was previously held by senior Alyssa Caputo. In a small but competitive field, sophomore Kate Buban was crowned MASCAC Champion in the 10K run. With three competitors, Buban crossed the finish line in 41:03:17, pacing herself to claim the top spot. Buban said although it was a tough race, “I was very proud of myself for coming in first at MASCACs. … My performance itself was about a minute and a half slower than my other 10K times this season, but I was proud of myself for finishing.” She said her coaches and teammates cheered her on the whole time, which “helped me throughout the entire 25 laps.” Head Coach Mark Johnson said Beck and Buban “dominated their events from the get-go. It was great to see the time and energy put into earning those medals. It was special to watch.” In discus throw, Alyssa Caputo stood out in a deep field of 22 competitors, earning second place with a throw of 34.30 meters. Beck followed with a fourth-place throw of 30.75 meters. Freshman Kalina Cochran threw a personal best of 27.87 meters, placing eighth, while freshman Ashley Caputo secured 11th with a 26.42 meter throw. Alyssa Caputo placed third in shot put out of 19 athletes with a mark of 11.06 meters. Beck continued her impressive day with a sixth-place shot put finish at 10.73 meters. Freshman Amy Tansek was close behind in seventh at 9.74 meters, followed by Ashley Caputo in eighth with a throw of 9.63 meters, giving Framingham a dominating presence in the event. Beck said when participating in multiple events in one meet, “I take it one step at a time, and one event at a time. When you try to hyperfocus on one event, it can make you overthink and not produce the way you want to, so I try to just chill out.” Sophomore Jamie Moniz stunned in the javelin, taking third place out of 11 with a throw of 33.48 meters, breaking the previous school record of 30.25 meters. Freshman Grace Avery added to her multi-event success by placing sixth with a throw of 25.58 meters. In the 4x800-meter relay, the team of junior Meghan Johnston, sophomores Cassandra Toth and Justinne Quinanola, and Avery earned third place out of five teams with a time of 11:08:50. Their chemistry and pacing showed promise in a first-time event for them, as it is not a standard event outside of the championship season. Avery said, “We’re proud of what we accomplished. It wasn’t a season-best, but considering the level of competition and where we started at the beginning of the year, it shows how much we’ve progressed. We see it as a stepping stone for next season.” Quinanola said, “I was happy about how we ended time-wise just because it was actually our second-best 4x800 relay ever at Framingham. We broke the record last year - we just didn't beat our own record.” Johnson said the 4x800 relay was brand new to Avery. “The fact that she did those as well as she did was great to take in. … She ran a low 2 minutes 50 seconds at MASCACs, and then a low 2 minutes 40 seconds at New England. So, just seeing that growth from week to week tells me that we're nowhere near where she's going.” Freshman Stella D’Ambrosio placed sixth out of nine in the 400-meter dash, clocking a time of 1:03:59. In the 1,500-meter run, Johnston secured a strong fourth-place finish out of 15 runners, posting a time of 5:03:73 and breaking the school record. In the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Natalie Grimaldo came through with a second-place finish out of five, posting a time of 1:08:15. Moniz followed, placing fourth with a time of 1:11:14. In the 3K steeplechase, Avery earned third place out of six competitors with a time of 13:06:21. Junior Sarah Campbell wasn’t far behind, placing fourth in 13:25:45. At the NCAA Regionals May 2 and 3, Grimaldo made program history by becoming the first Framingham State athlete to score points at the meet. She placed seventh in the women’s 400-meter hurdles out of 18 competitors with a personal record and school record time of 1:07:70. Grimaldo said, “It honestly felt amazing and a little emotional, too. Last year, I couldn’t even break 70 seconds, so to not only hit that goal but go past it, place 7th, and break the school record was just surreal. I’m really proud of how far I’ve come.” She said the race was “definitely nerve-racking, and I kept getting in my head. “My girlfriend reminds me constantly about all the challenges I have faced and reminds me of all the hard work I’ve done, and she really helps me get out of my head. My coach was also able to move me into a faster heat, which really pushed me to compete harder and give it everything I had,” she added. According to Johnson, her finish technically tied for sixth, but was ruled seventh due to heat placement, still earning two valuable points. Johnson said, “She snuck into qualifying for the New England meet at MASCACs by .35, which is not a lot. But then she went out and she not only performed but she performed incredibly well Saturday. “It's the first time that we've ever actually been able to put points up. We've gone to the meet the last couple of years, and we've never been anywhere near scoring. So I think as a program, that's a major step forward,” he added. He said she is turning heads for the program, and Grimaldo has done an “incredible job” at making a name for herself in her two years as a Ram. “She's a force to be reckoned with, not only in the MASCAC, but in New England.” Grimaldo said, “It just really shows my dedication and hard work, and I’m really proud of that. Setting a school record means a lot to me because it’s something lasting I get to leave behind. It feels good to know that all the time and effort I’ve put in is now part of the program’s history.” Buban returned to the track at NCAA Regionals, placing 14th out of 27 in the women’s 10K with a time of 39:38:78. Despite not running for a week and a half beforehand other than the MASCAC Championship, the performance was just 0.6 seconds off her personal best - a near 80-second improvement from the week before. Buban said, "I don't think about it much. I just run my race.” She said her biggest takeaway from Regionals was “learning to go with the flow. At the regional meet, they were checking race shoes. None of my running sneakers were acceptable to race in. My teammate Grace let me borrow her shoes for my race. Thank you, Grace.” Alyssa Caputo, in what would be her final collegiate discus competition, placed 15th out of 18 with a throw of 33.98 meters. Alyssa Caputo said this season, she is most proud of how she took first place in discus at the Regis meet and qualified for Regionals. She added, “This was the second time I’ve qualified for disc, and when I qualified the first time, I was the first track and field athlete at Framingham State to do so. That was prior to my hip surgery, so I was proud that coming back from that, I was still able to qualify.” She said she found out she tore her labrum in her hip at the beginning of last season. “I continued to fight through and compete on it because I knew I needed surgery no matter what. After the surgery, it was going to be a 6-month recovery, which cut into the beginning of this season. I wasn’t allowed to be at any practices until late February and had to take things slow. Every day, I showed up and worked to get my hip to heal and get stronger.” Johnson said it was enjoyable to watch her on Saturday because she seemed to be in a great place mentally. “She was all smiles, just basking in the four years that she's put out here. “I’m genuinely going to miss working with her because she's a personality, and a fun one at that. And this year, from start to finish, she did a great job, not only with herself, but also becoming more of a leader,” he added. Alyssa Caputo said, “I went into this last meet with no expectations for myself. I knew I wanted to fully take in this opportunity, knowing it was my last chance to compete competitively at the college level. I wanted to enjoy the moment and just have fun.” She said she hopes her work ethic to improve and get stronger every day is a legacy that continues with the freshman throwers. “I hope I have instilled in them the ways to get better every day and the work they must put in behind the scenes to be great athletes and competitors.” In the 4x100-meter relay, the team of Grimaldo, Toth, junior Lydia Manurowski, and freshman Reese Neale placed 26th out of 28 with a time of 54.89 seconds. Despite the tough competition, Grimaldo described the event as one of her favorites because “it’s a group effort. I get to run with my teammates, which motivates me a lot and gets my adrenaline going.” The 4x400-meter relay team, made up of all sophomores, Buban, Grimaldo, Melissa Romeiro, and Norah Russell, finished 21st out of 23 with a time of 4:48:60. Buban said, “I started the 4x400, but it is not my typical race. I just ran it for fun. The other girls on my relay team did amazing!” In the women’s 4x800-meter relay, Johnston, Toth, Avery, and Quinanola placed 21st out of 23 with a time of 10:42:43. It was only the second time the group had run together, and they came within two seconds of the school record. Quinanola said, “As a team, we don't necessarily look at placement, especially with such high levels of competition, not that we're not a competitive team. But I feel like we mostly focus on time and how we can improve our overall time as a relay.” Avery said, “It felt like the perfect way to end the season, running with teammates I’ve grown really close to and giving it everything we had. It was a great reminder of how much we’ve improved and how much potential we still have.” She said the team dynamic has been “amazing. We support each other on and off the track, and that connection really shows when we race.” Quinanola said the four of them are “close-knit.” She added, “If one person messes up, no one's going to be mad at the other, just because we care about each other more than we care about our performance.” She said the entire team are all best friends as well. “We talk all week, and all the time outside of practice. We hang out outside of practice, and even in the off-season, we all still go to dinner together.” Alyssa Caputo said, “I am sad to leave my throws group because this was the first year I had a big group of throwers to be with. “The underclassmen, along with my sister, whom I recruited, brought such a positive energy to this group and made this year special compared to any other year I’ve experienced. So to say the least, I wish I had more years with my freshmen, but I’m glad they were brought here for my last year competing,” she added. Johnson said, “We're losing four seniors, with Kaylee, Alyssa, Shelby, and Megan, which is sad to lose that group. But I love our youth. I love the spread of events that we have going on and that we are returning what we're returning.” Quinanola said, “It's definitely been nice to see a bigger team, and I feel like we performed really well at MASCACs. Even though it's an individual sport, you realize you all have to come together.” Johnson praised the season as one of extraordinary growth, noting that the team expanded from 22 to 27 athletes and saw 22 qualify for MASCACs - up from 14 in the 2023-24 season. Across 96 events throughout the season, the Rams produced 76 personal records, broke 13 school records, and qualified 11 athletes for Regionals. Johnson said, “I really think the program is moving in a special direction, especially looking at the team that we're going to have returning next year. … I'm sad to lose Alyssa and Kaylee, but we have a young, promising team, so I am very excited for the future.”