Men’s Cross Country Opens Season with Second-Place Finish at Roger Williams Invitational

Ravens open year with strong showing

BRISTOL, R.I. (September 5, 2015) – The Franklin Pierce University men's cross country team ventured to the Ocean State on Saturday for its first meet of the year and put together a second-place finish at the Roger Williams Invitational, held at Colt State Park. Junior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) led the way in fifth place, as a trio of Ravens placed in the top 10.

Smith clocked in at 16:20.3 on the 5k course and was followed closely by senior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) in sixth and junior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) in seventh. Ham ran a 16:25.0, while Minors posted a 16:32.3. Rounding out Franklin Pierce's scoring quintet were junior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) in 12th (16:44.7) and freshman Peter Saviano (Sandown, N.H.) in 13th (16:45.3).

It all added up to 43 points for the Ravens, who were narrowly clipped by Brandeis (40 points) for the title. The two were separated from the rest of the field by a considerable margin, as Wentworth Tech (104), Massachusetts Dartmouth (112) and Bridgewater State (175) rounded out the top five, in that order.

Individually, sophomore Damon Kilgore from Gordon turned in a 16:11.4 to take home the title, edging out Wentworth sophomore Daniel McSolla (16:12.1) by less than a second. Brandeis sophomore Ryan Stender (16:12.7) and junior Matt Doran (16:17.5) filled out third and fourth in front of Smith in fifth.

The Ravens return to action on Saturday, Sept. 12, when they travel to the Philadelphia Metropolitan Championship, hosted by Philadelphia Univ.

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' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).