Senior narrowly misses All-America honors

JOPLIN, Mo. (November 21, 2015) – Senior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) capped his collegiate cross country career on Saturday for the Franklin Pierce University men's cross country team, with an appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championship, hosted by Missouri Southern State. Of 246 runners, Ham placed 53rd, solidly within the top quarter of the field at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.

Ham's 10k time came in at 30:45.6, for an average mile pace of 4:58. Ham's time was just 2.5 seconds outside of a spot in the top-50. He finished as the third-fastest runner from the East Region, behind just a pair of runners from fellow Northeast-10 Conference member American International. Per head coach Zach Emerson, Ham's time was approximately 10 seconds off the standard for All-America recognition.

At the top of the field, Shorter freshman Alfred Chelanga ran a 29:24.60 to claim the national title by nine seconds over Missouri Southern freshman Vincent Kiprop. The duo led eight runners who cracked the half-hour mark on Saturday. With three runners in the top-15, Colorado Mines (100 points) laid claim to the national title, winning by a 27-point margin over Adams State (127 points).

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).