Carpenter into top-10 in Northeast-10 in 500m

PLYMOUTH, N.H. (January 16, 2016) – The Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team returned the full squad to action on Saturday with a tune-up against Division III competition, as the Ravens traveled to the Panther Invitational, hosted by Plymouth State University. The Ravens picked up seven event victories on the day, on the way to 140 points and a first-place finish.

The Ravens finished 75 points ahead of Massachusetts Boston (65 points), which finished second on Saturday. Behind the Beacons, host Plymouth State (63 points) was third and Colby-Sawyer (57 points) finished fourth.

Franklin Pierce picked up wins in three field events, two track events and a pair of relays on the way to its first-place finish. The most impressive of the bunch was likely the victory by sophomore Rindal Pierre-Canel (Randolph, Mass.) in the long jump, as he posted a leap of 6.68 meters, which was good enough to move him into 10th in the Northeast-10 Conference in the event. Pierre-Canel also moved to 13th in the Northeast-10 in the triple jump on Saturday, as he finished second at Plymouth State, with a mark of 13.35 meters.

Pierre-Canel finished behind only graduate student teammate Andre Wooten (St. Charles, Mo.) in the triple jump, as the latter picked up the win with a mark of 13.55 meters. Wooten also placed fourth in the long jump, leaping 6.39 meters to move to 18th in the Northeast-10. The remaining field-event win for the Ravens came in the high jump, where freshman Robert Boardman (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) cleared 1.77 meters.

On the track, Franklin Pierce picked up wins in the 400 meters and the 5000 meters at the Panther Invitational. In the 400, junior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) moved into 17th in the Northeast-10 by taking first place in a time of 51.79 seconds. In the 5000, Ham crossed the line in 15:30.54 for his win.

The Ravens also picked up a pair of relay victories on Saturday. In the 4x800-meter relay, a team of Ham, junior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.), Minors and junior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) ran a time of 8:33.40, which is good for second in the Northeast-10 thus far. In the 4x200-meter relay, junior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.), freshman Jaris Neville (Atlanta, Ga.), sophomore Craig Telfer (Lebanon, N.H.) and sophomore Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.) turned in a time of 1:34.50.

One other Raven turned in a time which was good enough to move into the top-10 in the Northeast-10 in an event. Junior Matt Carpenter (Gloucester, Mass.) finished second in the 500 meters with a time of 1:10.97, which ranks sixth in the Conference.

The Ravens return to the track on Sunday, Jan. 24, when they travel to Cambridge, Mass. for the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational.

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).