NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (December 3, 2016) – Three NEICAAA Championships qualifying times and five victories highlighted a day scattered with top-three finishes on Saturday, as the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team opened the 2016-17 season at the Smith Snowflake Invitational, hosted by Smith College.

A trio of Ravens used the season's very first meet to get qualifying for the NEICAAA Championships out of the way early. Two such qualifying marks came in the 600 meters, led by senior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda), who won the event with a time of 1:21.43. Right behind him was junior Joshua Ercolini (Woburn, Mass.), who stopped the clock in 1:22.87 to finish second. The third NEICAAA qualifying mark came in the long jump, where senior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.) picked up a win with a leap of 6.85 meters.

The wins by Minors and Cataldo represented two of five victories on the day for the crimson and grey. Joining Cataldo with wins in field events were sophomore Robert Boardman (St. Johnsbury, Vt.), who won the high jump by clearing 1.83 meters), and junior Rindal Pierre-Canel (Randolph, Mass.), who was victorious in the triple jump, with a distance of 13.40m.

The remaining Franklin Pierce victory came back on the track, courtesy of the 4x400-meter relay squad. A quartet of freshman Trevor Guay (Londonderry, N.H.), Cataldo, junior Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.) and Minors put together a time of 3:25.87 to pick up the win.

The qualifying marks and the victories were not the only high-water marks of the day for the Ravens, who also saw two throwing records fall in the season-opening meet. In the weight throw, senior Mark Josselyn (Halifax, Mass.) took second with a program-record heave of 14.04 meters. Meanwhile, in the shot put, freshman Domenic Branco (Pelham, N.H.) came up with a school record right out of the gate, with a throw of 12.81 meters, which was good for third place.

The Ravens had a host of other top-three finishes on the day on Saturday. On the track, freshman Seth Davis (Farmersville, Texas) took third in the 400 meters (55.10), freshman Aidan Gilbride (East Kilbride, Scotland) finished second in the 5000 meters (15:19.80), freshman Tyler Hayes (Kings Park, N.Y.) placed third in the mile (4:31.30), freshman Jebediah Hogan (Gloucester, Mass.) was third in the 200-meter dash (23.71), Jacques tallied second in the 60-meter dash (7.15), sophomore Jaris Neville (Atlanta, Ga.) finished third in the 60-meter dash (7.16), freshman Jeff Reddy (Chester, N.H.) took third in the 3000 meters (8:45.89) and senior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) placed third in the 5000 meters (15:24.72). Meanwhile, in field events, Guay was second in the high jump (1.78m), Pierre-Canel finished second in the long jump (6.76m), senior Cody Steed (Chichester, N.H.) took second in the triple jump (13.23m) and freshman David Testa (North Andover, Mass.) placed third in the high jump (1.78m).

Elm City Challenge heptathlon results

Elsewhere, Franklin Pierce had three student-athletes in New Haven, Conn. at the Elm City Challenge, hosted by Southern Connecticut State, participating in the heptathlon. Senior John Delahanty (Long Beach, N.Y.) led the way by collecting 4486 points to finish third. Along the way, he won the pole vault by clearing 4.10 meters, took second in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:47.86 and placed third in the shot put with a heave of 11.00 meters. Meanwhile, senior Alex Bonitto (Lynn, Mass.) won the 1000 meters (2:47.52), en route to a ninth-place finish (4027 points), while senior Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) took second in both the 55-meter hurdles (8.19) and the pole vault (4.00m) on the way to an 11th-place finish (3871 points).

The Ravens return to the track on Friday, Dec. 9, at the PSU Winter Classic, hosted by Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H.

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).