Women’s Track and Field Slated to Finish Fifth in MASCAC in Inaugural Season
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University women's outdoor track and field team is competing in their inaugural season in 2019 and have been slated to finish fifth in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) in voting conducted by the league's coaches.
The Rams begin their first season of varsity competition on Saturday, March 23rd, at the Bears Invitational hosted by Bridgewater State University.
The Westfield State University women's track team was slated to earn the top seed in the league.
Senior Lexi Popp is back after claiming the 2018 individual titles in the 200m and 400m. Popp was also part of the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams that finished first at the 2018 MASCAC Outdoor Championship. Fellow senior Kerri Long was also a part of both teams. Erin Giugno, who anchored the 4x400m is also back. Rachael Farley, winner of the 800m championship also returns for the Owls. Farley was a member of the 4x800m relay team that took goal last spring. Her classmate Lauren Izabel is also back.
In the field events Westfield returns title-winners in the high jump (Brianna Deloury) and discus (Lauren Gilderdale).
Landing second in the poll with 19 points and one first place vote is Bridgewater State. Bridgewater had a pair of multi-event champions last year and both return for 2019. Jayci Andrews, fresh off her national indoor championship in the 60m hurdles, returns after winning the MASCAC Outdoor 400m hurdles and long jump titles in 2018. Senior Kira Gilbreath comes into the 2019 outdoor season as the reigning MASCAC Champion in the shot put and hammer throw.
Worcester State landed third in the poll with 17 points. The Lancers won four individual championships in 2018 and return three of them. Doreen Buabeng was the champion in the 100m, while Bernice Mensah and Stephanie McFadries took care of business in the field, winning the triple jump and javelin, respectively.
Fitchburg State, which graduated its only individual champion from last year, earned 13 points for the fourth spot in the poll, while Framingham State and Mass. Maritime closed out the voting with 10 and six points, respectively.