NMJC’s Grant is national heptathlon leader despite being new to the event

EDUARDO MIRANDA   NEWS-SUN
April 13, 2019

NMJC's MoniQue Grant finished in first place in the long jump with a distance of 20 feet and 10.5 inches. Grant is ranked number one in the nation in the heptathlon.

On Friday afternoon the New Mexico Junior College women's track and field team held the Ross Black Invitational. The two-day event is the Lady T-Birds only invite of the season and a chance to compete in front of the home fans.

In front of a small crowd that showed up with blankets to keep warm, NMJC freshman MoniQue Grant began her day as the number one ranked woman in the heptathlon and the team, as a whole, entered the invite as the number one ranked women's team.

The heptathlon is composed of seven events, the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meters, long jump, javelin, and the 800-meters. Grant participates in all these events and a few others acknowledge the difficulty of participating in the heptathlon.

"It's a little hard," Grant said with a smile and chuckle. "I'm not going to lie, it is."

Grant performs in both the heptathlon inside and outdoor events. She participates in all seven of the outdoor and when she is not performing in the heptathlon, she is participating in other events.

"There are seven events in outdoor," the Lady T-Bird said. "If I don't do the hep, I'm doing other events. In all I do maybe 10 events, but when I do the hep I do all seven."

For Grant, the feeling of being the number one ranked heptathlon performer for women is a great, especially with this being her first year participating in the event.

"It feels good," Grant said. "Honestly, I have never done this before. I knew in high school that I would eventually do it as I was already doing a lot of events. So it kind of makes me happy but then again it makes me nervous. There are a lot of girls who have already done this and know how to do more then me like javelin. I really don't want to lose my place but then again I like to face competition."

When speaking about the competition and being at the top, Grant knows that she has a target on her back and that many will scrutinize her every performance.

"Yes, I feel like that every time," said Grant.