Women’s track and field ends record-breaking season strong

By Izabela Gage

Sports Editor

At the MASCAC Championship April 25, women’s track and field placed fifth out of six teams with 72 points before nine athletes competed at NCAA Division III Regionals May 1.

Head Coach Mark Johnson said, “Team expectations going in were just to leave everything on the track and leave everything on the field. Across the board, I think the team did that.”

Junior Kate Buban delivered a standout performance in the 10K at the MASCAC Championship meet, taking first place with a time of 39:12.74. The second-place runner finished with a time of 43:35.40.

Buban said, “My race strategy was to run my own race and focus on competing against myself. My goal was to run a personal best, and although I ended up finishing 9 seconds off my PR, I was proud of myself for trying my best for that race.”

Junior Jamie Moniz surpassed her previous school record in javelin of 33.48 meters, winning first place with a throw of 35.61 meters. The second-place throw measured 32 meters. 

Buban’s and Moniz’s first-place finish earned them a spot on the MASCAC All-Conference Team.

Moniz also competed in the long jump, placing seventh out of 13 at 4.65 meters. Captain Lydia Marunowski, a senior, placed 11th with a mark of 4.39 meters.

Moniz finished fourth out of 10 in the triple jump at 9.76 meters, followed by Marunowski in sixth at 9.50 meters and freshman Emma Foley in eighth at 9.06 meters. 

Johnson said, “One of our freshmen, Emma Foley, came in just blazing, and she’s on the board now in almost a half-dozen places.”

Foley has set records this season for the 100 meter hurdles, long jump, and triple jump, and was a part of the 4x100 meter relay team that broke the previous record, which was set in 2019 at 53.5 seconds, with a time of 51.98 seconds.

Foley said she is looking forward to breaking her personal records. “I’m really happy that I broke four school records, but next season I want to focus more on beating my own records since I wasn’t able to PR this season.”

Freshman Reagan Laprade placed third out of four in the pole vault at 2.29 meters.

Johnson said, “We don’t really have a pole vault set up here, so it was fun working with her, just doing some drills down at our track and trying to get into it.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve added events,” he added. “Now we have a pole vaulter, which is an event that I never thought that I would coach here. We’re becoming a truly full-bodied team.”

He said, “Our team is young, so the future is very bright with this team. With Kate and crew leading the way next year, and freshmen like Emma and Reagan, it’s going to be epic in the next three to four years.”

Moniz also tied for fourth out of eight in the high jump, clearing 1.4 meters.

Moniz said, “Being in many events at the meet can be stressful. This year, I have been doing three jumping events and javelin, which pretty much entails running around, but it also helps me not overthink or get too nervous for competition.”

In the shotput, junior Cali Leger secured third place out of 15 with a throw of 10.07 meters. 

Sophomore Ashley Caputo followed in eighth at 9.07 meters, with sophomore Amy Tansek finishing 11th at 8.60 meters and senior Reese Perry in 12th at 8.52 meters.

In the steeplechase, senior Sarah Campbell led the way with a fourth-place finish out of nine, earning a time of 13:11.95, followed by sophomore Grace Avery, who placed seventh with a time of 13:49.84. 

Captain Natalie Grimaldo, a senior, earned a third-place finish out of eight in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:02.37. 

Grimaldo also placed third out of six in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:11.50.

Senior Justine Pickard finished eighth out of 16 in the 1500 meter run with a time of 5:25.22, with Captain Meghan Johnston, a senior, close behind in ninth at 5:28.05. 

At the regional meet, the Rams had 23 athletes qualify across 16 events. 

Moniz placed 12th out of 21 in javelin with a throw of 34.51 meters.

She said heading into the MASCAC Championship, she was seeded first for javelin. “For reaching regionals, my goal this season, I knew I had to do better. … My goal was to get one decent throw in, and I was able to do just that.”

Buban competed in the 5K and also qualified for the 10K, which she did not participate in. She finished 11th out of 17 in the 5K with a time of 18:25.76, breaking her own school record of 18:39.93 set during the 2025 season.

Buban said, “I chose the 5K because I wanted another opportunity to run a personal best, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to compete against some of the fastest Division III distance athletes in the region.”

Grimaldo placed 17th out of 27 in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.48, breaking her previous school record of 1:07.70, which was set in the 2025 season.

Grimaldo said, “Once I broke the record the first time, I knew I could keep improving if I trusted myself and my training. It definitely feels rewarding because it makes me feel like all the work I put in paid off.”

The 4x400 meter relay team of freshman Ellen Child, Laprade, Grimaldo, and senior Cassandra Toth placed 13th out of 19 with a time of 4:17.20, breaking the previous school record of 4:26.03 set in the 2025 season by Grimaldo, Toth, Johnston, and Stella D’Ambrosio, who was a freshman at the time.

Johnson said the relay team breaking the record by 8.5 seconds is like the “Mount Everest of a knock-off time. The girls’ coaches all jumping around after that was just a great way to finish the year.”

The Rams’ 4x800 meter relay team of Avery, Johnston, junior Justinne Quinanola, and Buban finished 14th out of 15 in 11:14.25. 

Buban and Grimaldo are competing at the F.I.R.E Meet at Williams College for their last meet of the season May 8 and 9.

Johnson said having 11 records broken this season “speaks wonders of the time, energy, and effort the athletes are all putting in. They come to training every day, usually with a smile, and they put in the work. 

“It shows we’re a younger program, because we’ve only had a team since 2019 as an NCAA team, but our records are getting more competitive,” he added.

Buban said, “It says a lot about the strength of our program right now. Everyone puts in the work every day, and it’s exciting to see that pay off. I’m really excited to see what our athletes continue to accomplish moving forward and how this momentum carries into next season.”

Johnson said he loves the team dynamic because of how supportive every athlete is of their teammates. “Regardless of whether it’s someone in their event group, if they’re not warming up for their event, they’re typically out sitting in the middle of the track, cheering on their teammates, or up in the stands, just trying to make as much noise as they can.”

Moniz said, “From the team’s perspective, our goal was to have our best year yet. Each year, our progress has been linear, and I’m excited to see what next year will bring!”

Johnson said he is proud of all three captains, Johnston, Grimaldo, and Marunowski. “They’ve done a great job this year with pushing the team forward.”

He added the graduating seniors are a special group to him because he took over as head coach three years ago. “This group was there with me from day one as head coach here. I appreciate all the energy and effort they put in the last three years under me and four years in general. 

“They are the historical foundation of this team, and I'm excited to see where they go in the future,” he added.

Grimaldo said graduating “feels bittersweet. I am really proud to leave the program with performances like these, especially breaking records, but it is also emotional knowing this chapter is coming to an end. I will also miss the girls very much because they are a big part of who I am as a runner.”

Johnson said, “Looking forward to next year, I’m gonna miss the personalities we’re losing, but we have a great team remaining. We have a lot of great kids coming in. We’re super excited to hopefully turn some heads in the next year as we grow the program, and keep, hopefully, breaking records. The sky’s the limit for the team.”