Three Ravens land in top 10

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (October 24, 2014) – Sophomore B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) ran a 5K time of 15:09.05 on Friday afternoon to finish fourth -- tops among Division II student-athletes -- and lead the Franklin Pierce University men's cross country team at Stanley Park in the CCSU Mini Meet. As a team, the Ravens finished with 115 points, which was good for fourth in the 19-team meet.

Smith was one of three Ravens to finish among the top 10 in the 127-runner field, which was laden with Division I talent from across New England. Senior Antoine Gisore (Concord, N.H.) and junior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) finished one behind the other in seventh (15:11.48) and eighth (15:12.13), respectively.

After Ham, it was a considerable gap to the next Franklin Pierce student-athlete, as sophomore Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) and freshman Luke Thresher (Coventry, Conn.) rounded out the Ravens' five scoring positions. Minors ran a 15:42.76 to finish 40th, while Thresher notched a 15:51.31 to place 56th.

Also competing for the Ravens on Friday were junior Makopa Rugabirwa (Concord, N.H.) in 65th (15:57.08) and sophomore Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) in 81st (16:14.85).

In the team scoring, Central Connecticut State (52 points) finished first on its home course and posted a 16-point win over Providence (68), which finished second. Yale (74) finished directly in front of the Ravens, while fellow Northeast-10 Conference member American International (143) rounded out the top five.

Individually, CCSU's Patrick Hubbell clocked in at 14:51.28 to take first and post a six-second victory over Trevor Cawley of Providence, who finished second (14:57.46). Another Friar took third, in the form of Stephen Robertson (15:06.32). Next was Smith, who had CCSU's Matt Walker (15:09.13) hot on his heels to finish off the top five.

The Ravens are idle next week, before returning to action as hosts of the Northeast-10 Championship on Nov. 9 in Rindge.

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 cross country apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).