Ham, Minors Lead Men’s Cross Country to Third at Northeast-10 Championship
Posted: Oct 25, 2015

Ham, Minors Lead Men’s Cross Country to Third at Northeast-10 Championship

Ravens put four in top 15

COLCHESTER, Vt. (October 25, 2015) – Senior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) and junior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) both finished in the top 10 on Sunday to lead the Franklin Pierce University men's cross country team to a third-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, hosted by Saint Michael's. In all, the Ravens placed four in the top 15, all of which earned All-Conference honors.

Ham placed seventh -- in the 156-runner field -- to earn All-Northeast-10 First Team honors, with an 8k time of 25:23.0, good for an average mile time of 5:06. The next three Ravens all earned All-Northeast-10 Second Team honors, led by Minors in ninth, with a time of 25:40.6. Just 10 seconds farther back, junior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) in 25:51.01 and junior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) in 25:52.3 finished one behind the other in 12th and 13th, respectively. Rounding out the scoring five for Franklin Pierce was junior Dylan Crowley (Woburn, Mass.) in 43rd, with a time of 26:44.8.

It all added up to 81 points for the Ravens, who were just nine points behind second-place Stonehill (72 points). The Skyhawks, and the rest of the field, were left in the dust of champion American International (48 points), which had three of the top-six finishers on Sunday. Behind Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire in fourth (110 points) and Bentley in fifth (115 points) rounded out the top five.

Individually, AIC junior John Chirchir (24:55.9) edged freshman teammate Leakey Kipkosgei (24:56.0) at the line to claim the title. SNHU junior Nacho Hernando in third (25:05.1), Southern Connecticut State senior Dieter Gutbrod in fourth (25:06.0) and Stonehill senior Robert Massey in fifth (25:22.3) rounded out the top five individuals.

The Ravens return to action on Sunday, Nov. 8, when they host the NCAA Championship East Regional at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H.

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).