DMR shaves 30 seconds off last week's time

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (December 10, 2015) – Junior Cory Cataldo (Tewksbury, Mass.) of the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team met the NEICAAA Championships qualifying standard in the long jump on Thursday, as part of a strong showing for the team on the first day of the Elm City Challenge, hosted by Southern Connecticut State University. The Ravens collected 18 points on the first day of the two-day meet and sit second, one point behind host SCSU.

Cataldo finished third on Thursday in the long jump, with a leap of 6.82 meters inside the James W. Moore Field House. The mark also qualified him for February's NEICAAA Championships and earned two points for the Ravens. Cataldo also scored points in the 55-meter hurdles. He turned in a time of 7.95 seconds in preliminaries to advance to the final, where he shaved the time down to 7.82 seconds, to finish second and collect five points.

Franklin Pierce's distance medley relay squad knocked over 30 seconds off its season-opening time from a week ago. Junior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.), sophomore Nicholas Jacques (Westfield, Mass.), sophomore Joshua Ercolini (Woburn, Mass.) and junior Dage Minors (Hamilton Parish, Bermuda) combined to run a 10:13.10 to finish second and earn three points.

Two other Ravens picked up points on the track on Thursday. Joining Cataldo in the 55-meter hurdles was sophomore Craig Telfer (Lebanon, N.H.), who checked in at 8.18 seconds in his prelim heat before running a 7.98 in the final to finish fifth and earn one point. Senior Ryan Dionne (Amesbury, Mass.) added a point in the 55-meter dash, where he ran a 6.68 prelim time and a 6.74 in the final to finish sixth.

The rest of Franklin Pierce's scoring on the day came in field events, including a pair of scorers in the pole vault. Freshman Ryan Woolley (Wallingford, Conn.) cleared 3.95 meters to finish second and earn three points, while junior Mark Choiniere (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) cleared 3.65 meters to finish fourth and earn one point. Meanwhile, freshman Robert Boardman (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) posted a jump of 1.80 meters to finish third in the high jump and earn two points.

Senior Vincent Biunno (Montgomery, N.Y.) did not score any points on Thursday, but put himself in position to do so on Friday, as he sits fourth in the heptathlon after four events, trailing the leader -- Central Connecticut State sophomore Tyler Latham -- by 195 points. Biunno finished first in the 55-meter dash (6.76) to earn 789 points and tied for first in the high jump (1.97m) to pick up 776 points, while also placing sixth in the long jump (6.48m) for 693 points and ninth in the shot put (10.09m) for 491 points.

The Elm City Challenge concludes on Friday at the Moore Field House.

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).