SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 7, 2021) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team put together six All-Northeast-10 Conference performances -- including four from freshmen -- and 21 point-scoring performances on Friday at the NE10 Championships, hosted by American International College. Combined with a pair of point scorers from Thursday's limited action, the Ravens totaled 85 points on the way to a fourth-place finish, out of 11 teams.

All-NE10 honors went to junior Croix Albee (Trenton, Maine) at third in the shot put, freshman Brogan Bonsaint (Somersworth, N.H.) at second in the javelin, freshman Stephen Harris (Billerica, Mass.) at third in the 200-meter dash, freshman Wondu Summa (Burlington, Vt.) at third in the 5k, freshman Ryan Walker (Seabrook, N.H.) at third in the 800 meters, and a 4x800-meter relay team which took third.

Senior Antonio Rua (Burrillville, R.I.) claimed the NE10 Elite 24 Award, as the competitor with the highest cumulative grade-point average.

When all was said and done, the Ravens finished fourth with 85 points. Southern Connecticut State piled up 301.5 points to claim its fourth straight NE10 title. The Owls were followed by host AIC in second (175 points) and their cross-town rival, New Haven, in third (105).

The men's meet went in earnest on Friday, after the hammer and 10k had been contested on Thursday evening. The Ravens got things started Friday morning with six competitors in the shot put. Albee and fellow junior Armani Mette (Randolph, Mass.) both scored in the event, as Albee placed third to earn All-NE10 honors and six points with a throw of 15.04 meters, while Mette finished sixth for three points with a heave of 14.28 meters. Farther down the ledger, sophomore Connor Everidge (Baldwinville, Mass.) was ninth (13.82m), freshman Sal Lando (Sterling, Mass.) was 12^th (13.22m), senior Eriq Joyce (Pepperell, Mass.) was 13^th (12.82m) and junior Kevin McCree (Mansfield, Mass.) was 15^th (12.00m).

Next up, the pole vault got underway. When all was said and done, freshman Connor Nordmann (Bethel, Conn.) got up and over 3.85 meters to finish seventh and earn his team a pair of points.

Around lunch time, junior Sekou Veillard (Davie, Fla.) took to the track in the 110-meter hurdle prelims. He ran a time of 15.80 seconds to finish fourth in the second of two heats and advance through to the final. Later, he ran a time of 15.56 seconds to place sixth and pick up three points.

Meanwhile, Albee, Brogan Bonsaint (Somersworth, N.H.) and senior Von Hayden (Monroe, Conn.) were busy chucking the javelin around The City of Firsts. Fresh off his NCAA provisional qualifying mark from last weekend, Bonsaint snagged All-NE10 honors as a freshman, with a throw of 57.97 meters to finish second. Hayden was just outside the points, as he threw the spear 47.43 meters to place ninth.

In the 100-meter dash, junior Ethan Pezzullo (Bristol, R.I.) took seventh in his heat and finished 19^th overall, with a run of 11.59 seconds.

Back on the field side of things, in the high jump, Harris picked up a pair of points by clearing 1.82 meters to finish seventh.

In the early afternoon, the Ravens got to show off some of their distance chops. In the 3k steeplechase, senior Cody Tallent (Bellow Falls, Vt.) and freshman Ntakirutimana Janvier (Burlington, Vt.) both scored points in fourth (10:04) and eighth (11:03), respectively, while sophomore Ibrahim Ayyash (Worcester, Mass.) finished just outside the points in ninth (11:33). Later, in the 1500 meters, it was points for junior Riley Fenoff (Danville, Vt.) in seventh (4:03) and freshman Ryan Outerbridge (Paget, Bermuda) in eighth (4:06), while senior Ryan Ducrow (Amesbury, Mass.) finished 18^th (4:18). Between the two events, the 4x100-meter relay team got around the track in 42.86 seconds to take fifth and four points with a lineup of Pezzullo, Harris, freshman Angel Gonzalez (North Andover, Mass.) and junior Devin Jones (Manchester, N.H.).

As in the shot put, a whole flock of Ravens was in action in the discus through the afternoon. Mette (40.56m) and Albee (40.46m) both finished in the points, as they placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Farther down the order, Joyce was 12^th (37.68m), Everidge was 15^th (35.37m), Lando was 17^th (34.27m) and McCree was 19^th (33.56m).

Things ramped up on the track through the middle of the afternoon to close out the day of competition. In the 800 meters, Walker was another Raven to earn All-NE10 honors as a freshman, as he took third for a run of 1:54.56, while freshman Evan McNeice (Wethersfield, Conn.) picked up a point in eighth (2:00.63) and Rua finished 11^th (2:01.51). Veillard returned for the 400-meter hurdles, where he ran and leapt his way around the track in 57.77 seconds to finish fifth and tally four points.

The final sprint of the day was the 200-meter dash, which featured Harris and Jones. Harris picked up All-NE10 honors and finished third with a run of 22.19 seconds, while Jones placed 17^th in 23.64 seconds.

Next, it was three Ravens in the 5k and All-NE10 accolades for freshman Wondu Summa (Burlington, Vt.), who finished third in 15:04. Junior Will Aylward (Peabody, Mass.) took 17^th (16:10) and sophomore Zach Aham (Nottingham, N.H.) finished 19^th (16:35).

A pair of relays rounded out the meet. In the 4x800, it was an All-NE10 third-place finish for Fenoff, McNeice, freshman Thomas Darrah (Thetford, Vt.) and Walker, who combined to stop the clock at 8:02. In the 4x400, freshman Nathan Rinaldi (Bristol, R.I.), Fenoff, Summa and Harris placed fifth in 3:30.