CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (January 8, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team got back to work on Saturday afternoon, as the team returned to action at the Art Farnham Invitational, hosted by MIT. Junior Connor Everidge (Baldwinville, Mass.) kicked off the second semester with a bang, as he established new program records in both the shot put and weight throw, shattering the previous mark in the latter by more than a meter.

The meet was not scored from a team perspective.

Everidge won both events, and both throws were good enough to meet the NEICAAA Championships qualifying standards. His 15.23-meter toss in the shot put unseated a throw by then-freshman Croix Albee (Trenton, Maine) of 15.04 meters at the 2019 Northeast-10 Conference Championships, by just over half a foot. Meanwhile, it was a six-year-old record which came tumbling down in the weight throw, as the program high-water mark had sat at 15.14 meters, since Mark Josselyn put it there in January of 2016. Everidge went more than four feet better, as he posted a mark of 16.39 meters.

Everidge's weight throw mark is tops in the NE10 so far on the season, while he now ranks third in the shot put.

Now a junior, Albee posted top-five finishes in both events on Saturday as well. He took fourth in the shot put at 14.02 meters and fifth in the weight throw at 13.34 meters. Elsewhere in field events, sophomore Stephen Harris (Billerica, Mass.) tied for first in the high jump (1.85m), while senior Ethan Pezzullo (Bristol, R.I.) took third in the long jump (6.06m).

On the track, Harris led a trio of Ravens in the top five of the 60-meter dash, as he finished second in 7.06 seconds, which was good enough to meet the NEICAAA qualifying standard. Sophomore Nathan Rinaldi (Bristol, R.I.) followed in third at 7.12 seconds and senior Devin Jones (Manchester, N.H.) was fourth in 7.23 seconds. Rinaldi doubled up to take second in the 200-meter dash at 23.51 seconds.

Per usual, Franklin Pierce was strong in the middle and longer distances, as wins and top-five finishes abounded in the 1000-, 3000- and 5000-meter events. In the 1000, sophomore Wondu Summa (Burlington, Vt.) won (2:33), while sophomore Ryan Walker (Seabrook, N.H.) took fourth (2:52). In the 3000, sophomore Thomas Darrah (Thetford, Vt.) was first (9:16) and sophomore Mitchell Stokes (Worcester, Mass.) was third (10:08). The Ravens had the only two entrants in the 5000, where freshman Logan Mihelich (Northwood, N.H.) kicked for the win (16:35.93) by less than a half-second over graduate student Sebastien Vicary (Ulceby, United Kingdom), who turned in a 16:36.37. The two are now fifth and sixth, respectively, in the NE10 in the event.

Franklin Pierce took second in the only relay event of the day, the 4x400-meter race. Rinaldi, Jones, Harris and Summa teamed to post a time of 3:29.

The Ravens are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 15, at the Tufts Invitational.