Abrams, Biunno add second-place finishes

FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 20, 2013) – Junior Antoine Gisore (Concord, N.H.) won both the 800 meters and 1,500 meters on Saturday afternoon, while freshmen Mike Abrams (Newark, N.J.) and Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) added wins as well, to lead the way for the Franklin Pierce University men's track and field team at the Eric Loeschner Meet, hosted by Fitchburg State University at Elliot Athletic Complex. The Ravens collected 84 points to finish fourth in the 23-team meet.

Gisore provided the most impressive performance among the Franklin Pierce highlights on Saturday, as he picked up a pair of victories in middle-distance events. His time of 1:57.18 in the 800 meters was good enough to rank him 20th in the Northeast-10 Conference, and he also added a win in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:03.48.

Ham added a distance win for the Ravens in the 10,000 meters (32:12.13), with a time which ranks him seventh in the Northeast-10, while Abrams chipped in a sprint win in the 100-meter dash (11.26). Abrams narrowly missed a double of his own, as he also placed second in the 200-meter dash (22.54). Franklin Pierce's other second-place finish came courtesy of freshman Vincent Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) in the high jump (1.93m).

Franklin Pierce also scored three other top-five finishes on the day. Behind Gisore in the 1,500 meters, sophomore Makopa Rugabirwa (Concord, N.H.) finished third with a time of 4:06.10. Behind Ham in the 10,000 meters, sophomore J.T. Trujillo (Derry, N.H.) finished fifth with a time of 33:50.37. The remaining top-five came in the 4x100-meter relay, where a team of freshman Shawn DeCost (Nashua, N.H.) to freshman Adam-Corey Rander (Bronx, N.Y.) to Biunno to Abrams got the baton around the track in 43.46 seconds to finish second and record the fifth-best time in the Northeast-10.

Other top-15 finishes of note on the day for Franklin Pierce included a seventh-place finish by Rander in the 400-meter dash (51.11), a ninth-place finish by freshman Ryan Dionne (Amesbury, Mass.) in the 200-meter dash (23.29) and an 11th-place finish from freshman Isaac Fithian (Kingston, N.H.) in the 1,500 meters (4:15.78).

Tufts (167 points) came away with a sizable victory over second-place Worcester State (100.5) to claim the team title. Bridgewater State (94) took third and Colby-Sawyer (44) fifth on either side of Franklin Pierce to round out the top five.

The Ravens will send competitors to a pair of meets in the upcoming week. Select participants will travel to the prestigious Penn Relays, the oldest and largest track meet in the country, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia from April 24-27. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad will head for the Stonehill Skyhawk Invitational at W.B. Mason Stadium in Easton, Mass. on Friday, April 26.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce track and field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).