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Posted: Oct 16, 2013

Men's Cross Country Debuts in National Top-25 Poll

Men's Cross Country Debuts in National Top-25 Poll

First national ranking in program history

RINDGE, N.H. (October 16, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s cross country team made program history on Wednesday, as the Ravens were ranked 19th in the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Top-25 Poll. The national ranking, which is the first in program history, comes in just the team’s second year of existence at the varsity level.

Franklin Pierce, which is also ranked No. 1 in the organization’s East Region poll, is the only Northeast-10 Conference school to rank among the national top-25 in this week’s standings.

The Ravens have turned in an outstanding 2013 season to date, including winning their first three races. Franklin Pierce kicked things off with a triumph at the Roger Williams Invitational on Sept. 7, followed by another victory at the Bruce Kirsh Cup on Sept. 14, and then finally concluded the impressive streak with a win at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Sept. 21.

Franklin Pierce has been the highest Division II finisher in each of its five races this season. In addition to the three victories mentioned above, the Ravens also placed sixth out of 46 teams at the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5, and 12th out of 41 teams at the NEICAAA New England Championships last Saturday. Both of those races featured not only some of the top Division II programs in the country, but also several Division I programs.

The Ravens are in the midst of their championship portion of the 2013 schedule, which will continue on Sunday, Oct. 27, when they compete in the NE-10 Championship, held in Manchester.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s cross country, please visit the team’s page at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce cross country apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)