HANOVER, N.H. (May 12, 2018) – A mere seven-thousandths of a second separated first from third place in the 800 meters on Saturday, with the wild finish highlighting the second day of the NEICAAA Championships, hosted by Dartmouth. The Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team had two of the said top-three finishers in the event, as freshman Hugo Arlabosse (Marseille, France) won it, followed by graduate student Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) in third.

In all, Franklin Pierce picked up 29 points over two days, which was good for a 12^th-place finish, out of 36 teams to score at the meet. Fellow Northeast-10 Conference member Southern Connecticut State won the New England title with 113.5 points, while the University of Massachusetts took second (71 points) and the University of New Hampshire placed third (53 points).

Despite running in two separate heats, Arlabosse and Minors wound up separated by just seven-thousandths of a second in the 800 meters, as both hit the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark in the process. Despite running in the slower section of the event, Arlabosse laid down a season-best time of 1:50.00 to win the event and pick up 10 points. Meanwhile, Minors finished second, by a mere four-thousandths of a second, in his heat, with a mark of 1:50.07, which was good for third place overall, and six points. Arlabosse's time is good enough to tie for 12^th in the nation, while Minors still ranks sixth in the country, courtesy of his time at the Florida Relays at the end of March.

Not long after, both were also a member of the Ravens' 4x800-meter relay team, which finished third to pick up six more points. Arlabosse led off, followed by graduate student Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) and sophomore Tyler Hayes (Kings Park, N.Y.) in front of Minors, who ran the anchor. Merely an hour after his 1:50.07 in the individual 800 meters, Minors posted a 1:49 split on the anchor, as the quartet put together a time of 7:39.99.

"The fact Dage ran 1:50 and 1:49 within an hour of each other is absolutely insane," said head coach Zach Emerson, to succinctly sum up the performance.

Sophomore Trevor Guay (Londonderry, N.H.) was also in action for Franklin Pierce on Saturday, and picked up All-New England honors as he competed in the final of the 400-meter hurdles, after qualifying on Friday. Guay turned in a mark of 54.18 seconds on Saturday to finish fifth and pick up four points.

For Franklin Pierce, both Minors and Arlabosse are expected to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 800 meters. The NCAA field will officially be announced at ncaa.com on Tuesday, after 6 p.m.

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).