NEW LONDON, Conn. (April 16, 2016) – Senior Vinny Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) in the long jump, junior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) in the 10,000 meters and graduate student Andre Wooten (St. Charles, Mo.) in the triple jump each won their events on Saturday, leading the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team to a second-place finish (of 17 teams) at the Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College. The Ravens accumulated 95.5 points at the meet, though they finished a distant second to Tufts (179 points).

Wooten's victory produced the most impressive mark for the Ravens, as he posted a distance of 14.62 meters, which is the top mark thus far in the Northeast-10 Conference and met both the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard and the NEICAAA Championships qualifying standard in the event. Smith put together a run of 31:40.82 in the 10,000 meters, which also ranks first in the NE-10, and met the NEICAAA qualifying mark in the process. Biunno won the long jump with a leap of 6.68 meters, which currently ranks fourth in the league. Each event victory earned 10 points for the Ravens.

Biunno also posted a third-place finish in the high jump to earn six more points. He cleared 1.93 meters, which currently ranks first in the Northeast-10. Biunno also ran the anchor leg of the Ravens 4x100-meter relay team, which finished second to pick up eight points. Sophomore Rindal Pierre-Canel (Randolph, Mass.), junior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.), sophomore Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.) and Biunno combined to get the baton around the track in 44.34 seconds.

One other relay scored points for Franklin Pierce on Saturday, as the 4x400-meter squad finished fourth to earn five points while posting a time of 3:25.55, which ranks second in the Northeast-10. The 4x400 featured a quartet of junior Matt Carpenter (Gloucester, Mass.), sophomore Joshua Ercolini (Woburn, Mass.), Cataldo and Jacques.

Cataldo, Jacques and Pierre-Canel were all able to collect points in individual events as well. Cataldo notched five points for a fourth-place finish in the long jump, with a leap of 6.44 meters. Jacques is now tied for fifth in the Northeast-10 in the 200 meters, as he finished eighth with a time of 22.51 seconds to tally one point. Pierre-Canel piled up eight points by placing second behind Wooten in the triple jump, with a mark of 13.86 meters.

Sophomore Craig Telfer (Lebanon, N.H.) earned 10 points for the Ravens by placing fourth in a pair of hurdles events. In the 110-meter hurdles, he ran a time of 15.61 seconds, which stands fifth in the NE-10. In the 400-meter hurdles, he posted a time of 58.62 seconds.

Junior Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) also scored in a pair of events at Connecticut College. He finished two spots behind Telfer in the 110-meter hurdles, running a time of 15.73 seconds to finish sixth, earn three points and rank seventh in the Northeast-10. He did one better in the pole vault, where he cleared 3.80 meters to place fifth, earn four points and move into a tie for fifth in the NE-10.

Two other Ravens picked up points in field events at the Silfen Invitational. Freshman Ryan Woolley (Wallingford, Conn.) joined Choiniere in the pole vault and cleared 3.65 meters to place sixth and tally 2.5 points. Elsewhere, junior Mark Josselyn (Halifax, Mass.) moved to eighth in the NE-10 in the hammer throw by finishing seventh (43.76m) to earn two points.

Franklin Pierce had three others pick up points out on the track, led by eight points from senior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.), who finished second in the 3000-meter steeplechase (9:38.99). Elsewhere, junior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) moved to 13th in the NE-10 in the 1500 meters while earning one point for finishing 15th (4:40.51), while senior Mitchel McNanna (Milford, Mass.) snagged two points for placing seventh in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.28).

The Ravens return the track on April 20-21, when select athletes travel to the Holy Cross Decathlon in Worcester, Mass.

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).