By Sophia Oppedisano
Asst. Sports Editor
By Izabela Gage
Staff Writer
The Framingham State track and field team is looking to the future after a disappointing last-place finish at the MASCAC Championship meet April 26.
Despite their place in the standings, the Rams found success in individual events that highlight the young talent on the team.
Freshman Jamie Moniz placed first in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal record time of 1:10.35. Her teammate, sophomore Natalie Grimaldo, finished just tenths of a second behind her with her own personal record of 1:10.39.
Along with her first-place finish, Moniz placed third in the javelin throw and fourth in the triple jump event.
Moniz was awarded MASCAC Rookie of the Week April 8 and has broken school records in the 400-meter run, high jump, and triple jump.
“This season has been great! A few ups and downs, but progress isn’t linear,” Moniz said.
Moniz was awarded MASCAC All-Conference honors May 1 for her performance in the 400-meter hurdles event.
In the field, juniors Kaylee Beck and Alyssa Caputo dominated the standings for Framingham, placing in hammer throw, shot put, and discus. Caputo also placed in javelin, along with Moniz.
Beck and Caputo came in 2nd and 5th, respectively, in hammer throw.
In the shot put event, Caputo threw 10.67 meters and placed third out of 13. Beck came in sixth with a 10.03-meter throw.
Moniz and Caputo placed third and fourth, respectively, in the javelin event. Moniz recorded 31.38 meters, while Caputo recorded 24.24 meters.
Caputo placed fourth again in the discus throw with 31.23 meters. Beck came in 10th with a 25.07-meter throw.
Head Coach Mark Johnson noted the talent on the team after returning only eight members of last season's roster.
This was Johnson’s inaugural season with women’s track and field.
“Johnson is great! He walked into a rebuilding period, which is not an easy job to take on. He cares about his athletes so much. It’s not often you get a coach who cares about the athlete over everything else,” Beck said.
“We placed last, but that does not describe the work and effort that Johnson put in,” she added.
The Rams broke seven program records with Johnson at the helm this season, including in the 4x200 relay and Moniz’s triple-jump record.
“I think the program will only continue to excel! Mark meets his athletes exactly where they need to be met. He and Glenn [O’Connor], our assistant coach, provide us with workouts and training plans that set us up for success,” said freshman Kate Buban.
Buban and Moniz are among the young talents Johnson believes will continue to drive the team's success.
“I hope we turned some heads this year,” he said.
The team agrees that time is on their side.
“The team is certainly growing and we started scoring more in the meets as time went on. As a team, we had a great year and better ones are to come,” Moniz said.
Moniz will head to the New England DIII Regionals Meet to compete with teammates Lydia Marunowski, Cassie Toth, Meghan Johnston, Justinne Quinanola, Grimaldo, and Buban in the 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800 meter relays.
Buban said, “As a team, we will work on continuing to set one another up for success!”