Virtual Senior Day: Track & Field
By Samantha Norwood, staff writer.
Many see spring as a time to plant flowers, go camping, and spend time outside. Others see it as a great opportunity to run in the fresh air. With the COVID-19 pandemic cutting spring seasons short, the seniors on the Franklin Pierce University track & field team were deprived of their final season of running on that outdoor track. Today, as part of our ongoing Virtual Senior Day series, we give the track & field squad’s seniors their time in the spotlight.
Men’s Track & Field
Originally from Foxborough, Mass., Jason Reed is a distance runner and a sports and recreation management major. In his career, he has recorded top-five finishes at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships in both the indoor 5000 meters (2019) and the 3000-meter steeplechase (2019). He also earned All-East Region honors for the third time in his career during last fall’s cross country season, and is the only runner in program history to earn the accolade three times. His time on the team has taught him many things: Organization, time management skills, looking out for others, trust, communication, and being a good person both on and off the field. He wants to tell future and current athletes, “Don’t overthink or overlook the 6 a.m. practices, the 7 a.m. lifts, the Saturday mornings where your alarms go off at 5 a.m. Before you know it, you will be the midst of your last year, your last season, your last race in a Ravens Uniform. Enjoy every moment on this team; it goes by so fast even when you are not ready for it. This team has seen my rock-bottom lows, my ultimate highs, my severe weaknesses and profound strengths, but at the end of the day its ok because #EXPERIENCEMATTERS.” Reed hopes to pursue a career as a sports agent.
Christopher Danksewicz is originally from Franklin, Mass., and is a criminal justice major with minors in intelligence and security, sociology, and environmental studies. Like Reed, he specializes in distance events. His biggest accomplishment is the multiple injuries he has overcome, and been able to push through to better himself. Of his time with the Ravens, he says, “Being a part of the track and field team has taught me: Dedication, hard work, patience, teamwork, and that I am capable of doing things I never thought I could do.” To future athletes, he wants to say, “You can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. Any setback you have during your career, look at it as an obstacle in the path towards your goal rather than a time to give up.” Danksewicz believes that being a Franklin Pierce athlete was the best thing he could have asked for: “Being a Raven is different and you won’t truly realize that until you are done here at Pierce. You may not say it at the moment, but once you are done all the emotions start flooding in… Once a Raven, always a Raven.” He hopes to bridge the gap between police and community by improving community relations with law enforcement. His ultimate goal is to become a detective and will be starting his career off at the Peterborough Police Department.
Trevor Guay is originally from Londonderry, N.H., and is a criminal justice major. He is a sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles. He owns eight different school records, including both the indoor and outdoor 400 meters, as well as the 400 hurdles. His goal was to make a name for himself both within the NE10 and at Franklin Pierce. He says that being on the team taught him dedication, determination, but most important accountability. Guay wants to say, “It was a pleasure to be able to compete alongside some of my best friends and some of the best athletes in the NE10. Franklin Pierce University is a special place to be a part of a team. Everyone has your back and everyone is always interested in how YOU did not only themselves. Sometimes that can be lost because track is usually an individual sport, but not as a Raven.” He is moving on to work for the police department in Wilton, N.H.
Tyler Hayes is a health science major from Kings Park, N.Y. He received many awards during his time as a Raven. These include Indoor and outdoor NE10 champion in the 4x800m relay, a trio of All-NE10 honors for the 4x800-meter relay and All-New England accolades in both the 4x800 and distance medley relays.
Walker John of Boscawen N.H., is a communications major with a focus on journalism. He specializes in distance events, especially the 800 and mile. He said his greatest accomplishment as a Pierce athlete was a tie between breaking two minutes in the 800 for the first time and finishing sixth on the team at the NCAA East Regional in cross country. He is planning on continuing to run and train for long distance races, including many mountain and trail races. Track taught him things don’t always go as planned, but to always get back up. He wants to tell future athletes, “Trust your coaches. It might seem like you know better than them sometimes, but it's their job to oversee your training from an outside perspective, and listening to them is what makes you better. Also, have fun with it. Whenever we had to run in the pouring rain and everyone was soaked and tired, I was always the one stepping in the puddles and splashing everyone.” He also added, “it feels like I spent 10 years on the team because of the amount of memories I was able to make with my teammates. There are so many things to look back on and smile about from my time as a Raven athlete and that's what makes the entire experience worth it.” He hopes to find a job as a reporter in the Manchester, N.H., area.
Dorchester, Mass., is the home of Gerald Leith. He was a short-distance runner and a criminal justice major. At the end of his junior season, he was a member of the record-holding 4x100-meter relay team, an event he also earned All-NE10 and All-East Region accolades in as well.
Ahmed Rabbani is a biology major and hails from Peabody, Mass. He focused on distance events as a Raven. His top career championship finish was a 13th-place finish in the indoor mile at the NE10 Championships this winter.
Cameron Torres came to Pierce from Manchester, Conn., and is a sports and recreation management major who threw javelin as a Raven. His best performance was a 42.21-meter throw during his junior season. At the championship level, he chalked up a 14th-place finish in the javelin at last year’s outdoor NE10 Championships.
Women’s Track & Field
Kenisha Brannon comes from Owings Mills, Md., and is a biology major with a minor in chemistry and mathematics. She focused on short-distance events during her time at Pierce. Her biggest accomplishment happened her sophomore year after she broke her tibia. After a first recovery, she reinjured it. She was able to compete in the outdoor season her junior year and was at her strongest during her senior Indoor season. Her advice to future athletes is short and to the point: “Trust the process and take nothing for granted.” She says that being on the team has taught her patience and allowed her to be with a group of diverse individuals with the same goals. She says, “I had amazing coaches, teammates and trainers. It is something about this team that really sets us apart from other teams in the NE10. Coach jokes that it’s the fact that we don’t have a track and still preform extremely well, but it’s just truly something in this program that no other program anywhere can ever mimic.” She plans to attend Barry University and then Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and hopes to be a pediatric dentist.
Olivia Mabbett is a biology major with a woman in leadership minor. She’s originally from Milford, N.H., and has focused on high jump since seventh grade. To Mabbett, her biggest accomplishment was her ability to be there for her teammates and support them. Her advice to future athletes is, “Never give up on your goals. Work hard and stay focused and you will do amazing things during your time on the team.” She says track & field has taught her time management, changed her morals, and is a large part of the person she is today. She says, “I would not have changed my experience on this team for the world. Make the most of it, this experience has truly taught me not to take anything for granted. I also wanted to thank my coaches; they have helped me in more ways than just my athletic performance. I truly appreciate all that they have done for me and for the team as a whole.” She will be taking a gap year to gain medical experience and then plans to apply to graduate schools with the goals of becoming a nurse practitioner.
Katey Comstock is a business management major from Windsor, Vt. She was a thrower and held three school records at the end of her junior year: Indoor shot put (12.75m), outdoor shotput (12.35m) and discus (38.78m). Her top championship-level performance came at last spring’s outdoor NE10 Championship, when she was the bronze medalist in the discus, in addition to a sixth-place finish in the shot put.
Julia Cormier is an elementary education major from Northwood N.H., and specializes in distance events. After participating in a pair of relays at this winter’s indoor NE10 Championships, she was hoping to cap her career with strong performances in distance events this spring. A year ago, she placed sixth in the 10,000 meters and 13th in the 5000 meters at the outdoor NE10 Championships.
Jen Iozzi is a health science major from Cranston, R.I. During her time as a Raven, she specialized in throwing events. Across the indoor and outdoor seasons, she has chalked up five career top-15 finishes at the NE10 Championships.
Ayo Ouhuru hails from Montvale, N.J., and is a biology major, though she has not seed competition for the Ravens since the 2016-17 indoor campaign. She had a strong indoor championship season in 2017, as she scored a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter dash, as well as a 12th-place finish in the 200-meter dash at the NE10 Championships, and followed up with a 10th-place finish in the 60-meter event at the New England Championships.
Meghan Tarr is from Atkinson, N.H., and is a communication major who focused on mid-distance events during her athletic career. Similar to Ouhuru, Tarr has not competed for the Ravens since the 2017-18 indoor season. She took home a 12th-place finish in the 500 meters at the 2017 indoor NE10 Championships.
Last but not least is Rebecca Zylak, a health sciences major from Goffstown, N.H. Her main focus with the track team has been distance events. Individually, her career highlight was a 10th-place finish at the indoor New England Championships in the 5000 meters in 2018, and she also posted a 16th-place finish in the 1500 meters at the 2019 outdoor NE10 Championships. She was also a part of two different scoring relay performances at NE10 Championships in her career.
Though their senior years were cut short, each senior provided meaningful contributions to the track & field program during their time in Rindge. Speaking to the NE10 for the league’s ongoing “Teams of the Week” series, head coach Zach Emerson had the following to say about his senior class: “This year's senior class really set the tone for our entire program on what it takes to be all-around successful student-athletes. Over the last four years our team's cumulative GPA soared, our team's hours of community service nearly quadrupled, and the collective work ethic on and off the track was taken to all new heights. My coaching staff and I cannot thank this group of seniors enough for their focus, determination, resilience and leadership over these last four years. They have left an indelible mark on the program that will last for many years to come and have left very big shoes to fill.”