BOSTON (February 11, 2017) – For the second time in three weeks, senior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) went to the Boston University Track & Tennis Center and laid down a blistering time in the 800 meters on Saturday, leading the way for the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational. This time around, he added an NCAA provisional mark in the 400 meters as well.

Minors continued to do all but literally tear up the track at BU, settling instead for another figurative destruction of the surface in the 800 meters, which he won. His time of 1:48.97 was just 27 hundredths of a second off his nation-best time from the Terrier Invitational on Jan. 27. It is the second time he has run in the event this winter which bettered the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championship.

Minors followed up an hour later with the second-fastest time in the Northeast-10 Conference thus far this winter in the 400 meters. His run of 48.67 seconds was good for 21st place and met both the NCAA Championship provisional and NEICAAA Championship qualifying marks. It is tied for the 31st fastest time in the nation on the season.

Junior Joshua Ercolini (Woburn, Mass.) finished well behind Minors in both events, but posted his fastest runs of the year in both the 800 and the 400. In the 800, his time of 1:55.42 was good enough for a 71st-place finish and currently ranks 10th in the NE10. In the 400, Ercolini ran a time of 50.93 seconds to finish 104th and move up the 15th in the NE10.

Elsewhere, the Ravens got impressive marks in a pair of sprint events. In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Jaris Neville (Atlanta, Ga.) moved up to 12th in the NE10, with a time of 22.44 seconds, as he finished 58th. In the 60-meter hurdles, senior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.) placed 34th, with a time of 8.57 seconds, which would rank seventh in the Conference, had he not already run a faster time earlier in the year.

The Ravens return to action on Saturday, Feb. 18, when they travel to the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston for the Northeast-10 Championships.

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).