MASCAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships Preview

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Naomi Cass (Westport, Mass.) has been a double individual winner in the past two Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference outdoor women's track & field championship meets.

The Bridgewater State University senior standout long-distance runner will look to add to her tally this weekend while making her final appearance in the MASCACs.

The Bears, who have finished second the past two seasons, will take part in the MASCAC Championships at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Elliot Field Athletic Complex on the campus of Fitchburg State University.

Cass finished first in the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter races as a sophomore in 2024 and as a junior in 2025. During her freshman season in 2023, Cass was second in the 1,500 and seventh in the 800.

Entering the MASCACs, Cass has the conference's best time in the 10,000-meter race (36:02.48). She is second in the 5,000 (17:58.31) and fourth in the 1,500 (5:01.48).

Cass' top performance of this season came at the Silfen Invitational in Connecticut where she won the Elite 10,000 race with a personal-best time.

She was first in the 1,500 at the BSU Bears Invitational and seventh at the Thrills in the Hills in Atlanta, Ga.

BSU won three straight MASCAC championships (2021-23) before placing second to Westfield State University the past two seasons. The Bears had 149 points a year ago with the Owls winning with 213 points.

Last spring while hosting the MASCACs, BSU had two other double winners besides Cass with Kiara Abrantes (200 and 400) and Alison McDonough (100 and 100 hurdles) winning in their final outdoor conference meets.

Also winning last season for the Bears was Olivia Downin (Hudson, Mass.), now a sophomore, in the 800.

Downin is ranked third in the conference this season with a time of 2:28.10 and seventh in the 1,500 (5:08.46). She was first in the 800 at the BSU Bears Invitational.

Sophomore sprinter Grace Inacio (Taunton, Mass.) enters her second conference meet ranked first among MASCAC runners in a pair of events.

Inacio has the best times in the 100 (12.06) and the 200 (24.62).

Inacio was first in the 200 and second in the 100 at the Tufts Spring Invitational, won the 200 at the BSU Bears Invitational and was fifth in the 200 at the Thrills in the Hills meet.

Freshman Savana Malo (Milford, Mass.) has had a strong rookie season and is ranked second in the MASCAC in the 200 (26.74), third in the 100 (12.83) and fourth in the long jump (17 feet, 1/2 inch).

At the Tymann Invitational at Gordon College, Malo was second in the long jump and fourth in the 100.

Sophomore Bella Grover (Warren, Mass.) was third in the high jump a year ago and is ranked second in both the high jump (4 feet, 9 3/4 inches) and the 400 hurdles (1:08.19).

Grover won the high jump and 400 hurdles at the BSU Bears Invitational and was third in the high jump at the Tymann Invitational.

Freshman Madison Campbell (Weymouth, Mass.) is ranked second in both the discus (107 feet, 5 inches) and the javelin (106 feet, 7 inches) while sophomore Jane Sitek Shaver (Burlington, Vt.) is third in the javelin (95 feet, 2 inches) and fourth in the discus (102 feet, 2 inches).

Also ranked in the top five in the MASCAC for the Bears are junior Janelle Murphy (Brockton, Mass.), who is second in the 3,000 steeplechase; sophomore Chloe Davies (Foxborough, Mass.), who is third in the high jump; sophomore Rhiannon Vos (Marstons Mills, Mass.), who is fifth in the 10,000; and freshman Olivia O'Toole (Plymouth, Mass.), who is fifth in the 100 hurdles.

Following the MASCACs, BSU will travel to Springfield College for the Division III New England Championships May 1-2.