Smith follows 10,000 title with fourth in 5000

EASTON, Mass. (May 3, 2014) – Freshman Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) claimed the title in the 800 meters on Saturday, to lead the way for the Franklin Pierce University men's track and field team on the second and final day of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, hosted by Stonehill at W.B. Mason Stadium. In all, the Ravens collected 91.5 points over the weekend to finish fourth out of 10 teams.

Minors' time in the 800 was a 1:51.65, which was his best of the season and met the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard in the event. It was the third Northeast-10 title of the weekend for the Ravens, who had winners in the 10,000 meters and the 4x800-meter relay on Friday.

Franklin Pierce's performances on the track carried the day for the team on Saturday, as four other individuals combined to add 21 more points. The Ravens featured two scorers in the 5000 meters, as junior Antoine Gisore (Concord, N.H.) and freshman B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.), who was Friday's champion in the 10,000 meters, finished third and fourth, respectively. Both ran season-best times, with Gisore's 14:50.06 earning six points and Smith's 14:54.33 earning five.

Outside of Minors and Gisore, two other Ravens had top-three finishes on Saturday. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) ran a season-best 9:35.28 to place second and collect eight points. In the high jump, sophomore Vincent Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) cleared his best height of the season, 1.95 meters, to tie for third and pick up 5.5 points. The remaining individual scorer for Franklin Pierce was freshman Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.), who ran a time of 57.88 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles to finish seventh for two points.

A pair of relay teams rounded out the scoring for the Ravens at the Northeast-10 Championships. In the 4x100-meter relay, a team of sophomore Connor Rogowsky (Nashua, N.H.), Cataldo, freshman Dave LaGuerra (Mastic, N.Y.) and sophomore Ryan Dionne (Amesbury, Mass.) ran a time of 44 seconds to finish fifth for four points. In the 4x400-meter relay, the quartet of Dionne, Biunno, Cataldo and Minors clocked a 3:23.81 to place sixth for three points.

Selected Ravens return to the track next week for the New England Championships, hosted May 9-10 by Westfield State in Westfield, Mass. Franklin Pierce has had seven individual marks and one relay time which met the qualifying standards for the meet.

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).