SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 9, 2016) – Junior B.J. Smith (Concord, N.H.) set a facility record while winning the 3000-meter steeplechase on Saturday, while senior Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) took first in the 10,000 meters, as a pair of victories led the way for the Franklin Pierce University men's track and field team at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, hosted by American International.

Smith's winning steeplechase time of 9:33.24 was the fastest ever turned in at AIC's John G. Hoyt Track & Field complex, and was also good enough for second in the Northeast-10 Conference so far this spring. Ham's winning 10,000-meter time of 31:50.41 also ranked second in the league, and met the NEICAAA Championships qualifying standard as well.

The Ravens saw their most voluminous success in the 110-meter hurdles, where four runners put together times which rank in the top-10 in the Northeast-10. Senior Vincent Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) led the way in sixth place (15.71), with the Conference's fifth-fastest time, and was followed by sophomore Craig Telfer (Lebanon, N.H.) in seventh (15.77), junior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.) in eighth (15.80) and junior Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) in ninth (15.87). The times of Telfer, Cataldo and Choiniere ranked sixth, seventh and eighth in the NE-10, respectively.

Telfer also posted the league's eighth-fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles, as he turned in a mark of 58.37 seconds to finish seventh. Sophomore Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.) had a pair of top-10 marks as well. In the 100-meter dash, he ran a time of 11.32 seconds to finish ninth and rank seventh in the Northeast-10. In the 200-meter dash, he placed third, with a mark of 22.76 seconds, which tied him for sixth in the Conference. Elsewhere in track events, junior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) placed fourth in the 800 meters, with a time of 1:56.56, which is good for seventh in the league.

A pair of Ravens added top-five finishes in jumping events on Saturday at AIC. Sophomore Rindal Pierre-Canel (Randolph, Mass.) took third in the long jump, with a leap of 6.58 meters. Graduate student Andre Wooten (St. Charles, Mo.) turned in a hop, skip and jump of 13.66 meters to take fifth in the triple jump.

The Ravens return to action on April 13-14, with select athletes competing at the Holy Cross Decathlon in Worcester, Mass.

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).