Men’s Track & Field Victorious for Second Straight Week, Claims Silfen Invitational Title
Posted: Apr 15, 2017

Men’s Track & Field Victorious for Second Straight Week, Claims Silfen Invitational Title

NEW LONDON, Conn. (April 15, 2017) – Coming into the season without a meet victory to the program's record, the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team has now emerged victorious in back-to-back weeks. On Friday and Saturday, The Ravens piled up nine event wins and a school record to pick up the win at the Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College.

Franklin Pierce finished the two-day affair with 181 points, which resulted in a blowout win for the crimson and grey. The Ravens finished with an 85-point margin of victory over fellow Northeast-10 Conference member Bentley (96 points).

The lone program record to fall on the weekend for the Ravens went down in the 400-meter hurdles. Freshman Trevor Guay (Londonderry, N.H.) turned in a time of 54.86 seconds to win the event. The time met the NEICAAA Championships qualifying mark, ranks third in the NE10 and ranks fifth in the East Region. Senior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.) also added a top-five in the 400-meter hurdles, as he finished fourth with a time of 56.82 seconds, which ranks sixth in the NE10 and 10th in the East Region.

Despite Guay's record breaking, the most impressive event of the weekend for the Ravens came in the 10,000 meters, where they had three of the top six finishers. Freshman Jeff Reddy (Chester, N.H.) led the way in second place with a time of 31:50.25, which met the NEICAAA mark and ranks second in both the NE10 and the East Region. He was followed by senior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) in fourth (32:14.22) and junior Martin Gradijan (Lebanon, N.H.) in sixth (32:36.55). Smith's mark met the NEICAAA qualifying mark as well, and ranks fifth in both the Conference and the region, while Gradijan's time stands eighth in both the NE10 and the East Region.

Ironically, Reddy was denied an event win by his own assistant coach. Competing as an unattached athlete, Colton Ham '12 clocked in at 31:38.74 to finish first.

Elsewhere, a pair of Franklin Pierce athletes turned in impressive doubles on the weekend. Junior Rindal Pierre-Canel (Randolph, Mass.) came away with wins in both the long jump (6.67m) and the triple jump (13.93m). His long jump mark is third in the NE10 and sixth in the region, while the triple jump distance is eighth in the league and ninth in the region. Meanwhile, sophomore Jaris Neville (Atlanta, Ga.) won the 100-meter dash (11.14) and finished second in the 200-meter dash (22.81).

Neville was denied the victory in the 200 only by his teammate, junior Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.), who ran a time of 22.69 seconds to finish first. Meanwhile, behind Neville in the 100, freshman Jebediah Hogan (Gloucester, Mass.) finished fifth, with a time of 11.44 seconds.

Three other Ravens were victorious on the weekend, highlighted by a run of 3:55.15 by senior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) in the 1500 meters. The time would have ranked fourth in the NE10, except Minors already ranks second in the league and third in the region in the event. Meanwhile, junior Craig Telfer (Lebanon, N.H.) literally ran out of his shoe while winning the 110-meter hurdles (15.70) and sophomore Robert Boardman (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) won the high jump (1.88m), presumably with the full complement of shoes. Telfer's time is tied for third in the NE10 and tied for the seventh in the East, while Boardman's mark is sixth in the NE10.

Franklin Pierce also added a smattering of other top-five finishes over the two days: senior Alex Bonitto (Lynn, Mass.) was second in the decathlon (5489 points), Cataldo was second in the long jump (6.63m), senior John Delahanty (Long Beach, N.Y.) was third in the pole vault (4.10m), senior Mark Josselyn (Halifax, Mass.) was third in the hammer (44.24m), senior Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) was fifth in the pole vault (3.65m) and junior Richard Finnegan (Bourne, Mass.) was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles (16.45).

The Ravens return to action on Friday, April 21, when they travel to the Larry Ellis Invitational, hosted by Princeton University, in Princeton, N.J.

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).