4x400 now third in NE-10

BOSTON (January 30, 2016) – Juniors Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) and Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) stole the show on Saturday, as each posted Northeast-10 Conference season-best times to lead the way for the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team at the John Thomas Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University.

Minors did his damage in the 800 meters, where he placed sixth, with a time of 1:50.27. Though he already ranked first in the Northeast-10 in the event, the time was a season best and allowed Minors to increase his lead over his fellow Conference competitors. Minors had also already met the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard in the event, and his time on Saturday was just 1.03 seconds off the automatic qualifying standard. Minors has four weeks left to attempt to shave the time down to 1:49.24 and guarantee his spot in the NCAA Championships.

Meanwhile, Holmes ran the 1000 meters for the first time this year, and posted the fastest time thus far in the Northeast-10 while doing so, unseating Minors for the top spot in the event in the process. Holmes put together a time of 2:27.46, which was also good enough to meet the NEICAAA Championships qualifying standard.

Elsewhere on the track on Saturday, the Ravens' 4x400-meter relay squad moved into third place in the Northeast-10 by posting a time of 3:23.08, placing 28th. Franklin Pierce fielded a lineup of junior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.), sophomore Joshua Ercolini (Woburn, Mass.), junior Matt Carpenter (Gloucester, Mass.) and Minors.

A pair of Ravens turned in notable field-event performances at BU on Saturday. Sophomore Rindal Pierre-Canel (Randolph, Mass.) turned in a season-best mark of 6.76 meters in the long jump, which was good for 16th place and tied him for 10th in the Northeast-10. Meanwhile, though below his season best, graduate student Andre Wooten (St. Charles, Mo.) posted a triple-jump mark of 13.87 meters, to finish 14th.

Elsewhere, the Ravens also had student-athletes competing at the second day of the Tufts Stampede, where junior Alex Bonitto (Lynn, Mass.) finished up the heptathlon by placing seventh with 3708 points. The second-day highlight for Bonitto came in the 1000 meters, where he posted an event win by turning in a time of 2:46.94.

Also at Tufts, junior Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) matched his season best in the pole vault by clearing 3.80 meters, which was good for 10th and allowed him to remain tied for 10th in the Northeast-10. Meanwhile, senior Chris Bohi (Loudon, N.H.) cleared a season-best 3.50 meters to place 16th and move into 14th in the Conference.

The Ravens return to the track on Saturday, Feb. 6, when they travel to the Wesleyan Indoor Invitational in Middletown, Conn.

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).