Junior still sits second in Northeast-10

PHILADELPHIA (April 23, 2015) – Junior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) ran the fastest time of his collegiate career in the 3000-meter steeplechase on Thursday night, to highlight the day for the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team at the prestigious Penn Relays, hosted by University of Pennsylvania at historic Franklin Field.

Thursday's steeplechase competition was divided into two tiers, with the championship race reserved for the top Division I runners on hand. Ham was the only Division II athlete entered in the steeplechase in Philadelphia, and finished 10th out of 18 competitors in the second tier. His time of 9:22.99 is his collegiate best and will keep him ranked second in the Northeast-10 Conference in the event. The time was agonizingly close to the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard, which Ham missed hitting by just 46 hundredths of a second.

Meanwhile, senior Antoine Gisore (Concord, N.H.) took to the track for the Ravens in the second tier of the collegiate 5000 meters. He ran a 15:04.23, to finish 28th out of 34 competitors. Sophomore B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) was on the start list for the 5000 as well, but did not finish.

The Ravens are scheduled to compete in both the 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay on Friday, as well as the 4x800-meter relay on Saturday to close out their third appearance at the Penn Relays.

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).