Junior leads field by nearly 100 points

BOSTON (May 7, 2015) – Junior Vinny Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) of the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team led the way in three of the first five events in the decathlon to amass an 85-point lead on the rest of the field on Thursday, at the first day NEICAAA Championships, hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While Biunno (3673 points) leads the way by 85 points over Merrimack's John Braga (3588), things did not go as well on the first day for sophomore Alex Bonitto (Lynn, Mass.), who is currently ninth in the nine-man field, with 2637 points.

Biunno started his day with a season best time of 11.12 seconds in the 100-meter dash, to finish first in the event and chalk up 834 points. He then won the long jump as well, with a leap of 6.86 meters, to garner 781 points. The shot put -- one of Biunno's weaker events -- was next, and he finished seventh in the event, with a heave of 9.44 meters, a season best, to earn 452 points. From there, it was right back to another first-place finish, as he posted his best height of the year in the high jump, 2.02 meters, to pile up 822 points. Biunno rounded out the day by placing second in the 400-meter dash, with a time of 50.66 seconds, another season best, which was good for 784 points.

The decathlon concludes on Friday, when other events begin as well, on the second day of the NEICAAA Championships at MIT.

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 track and field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).