PROVIDENCE, R.I. (December 6, 2014) – The Franklin Pierce men's track team took the opportunity to make a statement in their opening meet on Saturday afternoon, led by sophomore Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) and B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) who performed well in their events on the day.

Minors would first lead the pack and take the first place finish in the Men's Mile, followed by teammates Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) and Makopa Rugabirwa (Concord, N.H.) who finished 2-3 respectively. Minors would again show his stuff with yet another first place finish in the Men's 4 x 400 Relay along with Holmes, Joshua Ercolini and Matthew Carpenter (Gloucester, Mass.).

Smith was able to build off of a strong cross country season and take a first place win in the Men's 3,000 meters, followed by teammate Antoine Gisore (Concord, N.H.) who finished in second. Not far behind them was Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) giving the Ravens three finishers in the top four.

On the field side, junior Vinny Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) gave the Ravens a top three finish in Men's High Jump by finishing tied for second with a jump of six feet, 3.5 inches. He also finished fourth in the Men's Long Jump with a distance of 21 feet, 4.75 inches. Both John Delehanty (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) also impressed with pole vaults of 12 feet, 11.5 inches.

Elsewhere on the track, Franklin Pierce saw a solid run out of junior Ryan Dionne (Amesbury, Mass.) who finished fourth in the 60 meters with a time of 7.17 seconds.

The meet was not scored from a team perspective.

The Ravens return to the track on Thursday, December 11 when they travel to New Haven to participate in Day One of the Elm City Challenge hosted by Southern Connecticut State University.

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 & field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).