NEW HAVEN, Conn. (December 11, 2014) – The Franklin Pierce men's track team took their second opportunity of the season to shine, and they did just that. They showed strong efforts in the distance events, and individually got standout performances from Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), junior Vinny Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.), and junior Ryan Dionne (Amesbury, Mass.) at day one of the Elm City Challenge hosted by Southern Connecticut State University.

Dionne would steal the show on the Men's 55 Meter Dash, coming in third with a time of 6.71 seconds. Choiniere would find himself amongst plenty of Ravens, finishing behind teammate Cory Cataldo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) as the duo finished 3-4 in the Men's 55 Meter Hurdles. Choiniere would also show off on the track side, coming up big with a second place finish in the Men's Pole Vault with a height of 3.90 meters.

Biunno would be the Ravens only participant in the Men's Heptathlon, finishing in the top three in all events except one. Biunno would speed to a first place finish in the Men's 55 Meter Dash and Men's High Jump, second in the long jump, and would fall to sixth in the Men's Shot Put giving him an overall finish of secdon in the event.

As for distance running elsewhere, the Ravens would jam pack the top of the leaderboard, as the "A" and "B" squads would finish 1-2 in the Men's Distance Medley.

Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.), Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda), Antoine Gisore (Concord, N.H.), and Nick Jacques would finish first as the "A" team with a time of 10:16.83 minutes, while the "B" team consisting of Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.), Matthew Carpenter (Gloucester, Mass.), Joshua Ercolini, and B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) finished second with a time of 10.21:89 minutes.

The Ravens return to the track tomorrow, December 12, to participate in day two 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).