Two More Titles for Men’s Track & Field, Which Finishes Fourth at NE10 Championships
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 5, 2018) – It was another day, another pair of Northeast-10 Conference titles for the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team on Saturday, at the second and final day of the NE10 Championships, hosted by Southern Connecticut State at Jess Dow Field. Freshman Hugo Arlabosse (Marseille, France) won the 800 meters, while the 4x400-meter squad successfully defended its crown from a year ago.
In all, the Ravens collected 85.5 points at the meet, to finish fourth, out of 11 teams. At the top of the field, host SCSU captured the NE10 title with 240 points, while American International followed with 138.5 points and Stonehill finished with 102.5 points, to round out the top three.
As was the case on Friday, the Ravens captured both an individual and a relay NE10 title on Saturday to pick up 20 total points. Individually, Arlabosse met the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard in the 800 meters, as he laid down a time of 1:51.73 to win. It was a one-two finish for Franklin Pierce, as graduate student Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) followed in second at 1:52.43 to snag eight more points.
Arlabosse and Minors also ran the third and fourth legs, respectively, of the 4x400-meter team, which claimed its second straight NE10 title. Sophomore Trevor Guay (Londonderry, N.H.) led off, while senior Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.) ran the second leg, as the quartet turned in a winning time of 3:15.63, which also established a new school record. The win marked the 21st career NE10 title for Minors.
The 4x400-meter mark was not the only school record to fall on Saturday for the Ravens. Guay also knocked one down as an individual in the 400-meter hurdles, where he turned in a time of 54.07 seconds to finish third and notch six points. He was not the only Raven to score in the event, as freshman Colin Stoddard (Charlton, Mass.) followed in seventh, to pick up two points, with a run of 55.88 seconds.
Jacques was a busy man on Saturday, as he was also a part of eight more points for the Ravens. Individually, he ran a time of 11.04 seconds in the final of the 100-meter dash to finish fifth and notch four points. He also ran the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay, which also finished fifth for five points. The lineup of sophomore Gerald Leith (Dorchester, Mass.), Jacques, senior Daniel Warner (Windham, N.H.) and junior Jaris Neville (Atlanta, Ga.) got the baton around the track in 42.92 seconds.
Sophomore Jack Ehrhardt (Point Pleasant, N.J.) had a strong day on the second day of decathlon competition, as he finished second in the decathlon editions of the javelin (48.36m) and the 1500 meters (4:47.87). In all, he snagged four points for the team with a fifth-place finish (5627 points) in the decathlon, which spans two days and 10 events.
The remaining 12.5 points on the day for Franklin Pierce came via sophomore Jeff Reddy (Chester, N.H.), senior Martin Gradijan (Lebanon, N.H.) and junior Roberto Boardman (St. Johnsbury, Vt.). Reddy finished fourth in the 5000 meters (15:17.85) for five points, Gradijan took fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase (9:44.74) for four points, and Boardman tied for fifth in the high jump (1.84m) for 3.5 points.
The Ravens are back in action on May 11-12, when select student-athletes compete at the NEICAAA Championships, hosted by Dartmouth in Hanover, 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).