Ham Earns All-New England Honors in 10,000m to Lead Men’s Track & Field on First Day of NEICAAA Championships

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 13, 2016) -- Senior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) finished seventh in the 10,000 meters to earn All-New England honors and lead the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team on Friday at the first day of the NEICAAA Championships, hosted by Southern Connecticut State.

Ham picked up two points for the Ravens with his All-New England performance, which comes just a week after he captured the Northeast-10 Conference title in the event. Ham turned in a 10,000-meter time of 32:20.40 on Friday to finish seventh.

The most popular event for the Ravens on Friday was the 110-meter hurdles, as they had three student-athletes compete in the preliminary heats of the event. Senior Vinny Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) led the way with a 13th-place finish, as he turned in a time of 15.25 seconds. He was followed by juniors Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.) in 17th (15.34) and Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) in 20th (15.94).

Biunno and Cataldo both competed in the long jump at the New England Championships as well, while Cataldo made it a three-event day by appearing in the preliminary heats of the 400-meter hurdles. In the long jump, Biunno finished 14th, with a leap of 6.71 meters, while Cataldo jumped 6.67 meters to place 16th. Cataldo was 16th in the 400-meter hurdles as well, with a time of 56.34 seconds.

Elsewhere, sophomore Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.) participated in the preliminary heats of the 100-meter dash, where he finished 19th, with a time of 11.10 seconds. Juniors Alex Bonitto (Lynn, Mass.) and John Delahanty (Long Beach, N.Y.) each participated in the first half of the decathlon on Friday. A full recap of their outings will be available on Saturday, after the event is complete.

The NEICAAA Championships conclude on Saturday in New Haven, 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).