BOSTON (February 24, 2022) -- The league leader in the weight throw since late January, junior Connor Everidge (Baldwinville, Mass.) had been eyeing his first career Northeast-10 Conference title for the final month of the season. On Thursday afternoon at Reggie Lewis Center, he cashed in. A throw of 15.96 meters was enough to take the crown in the event for the Franklin Pierce University men's track & field team at the first day of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships. The 10-point haul was a solid chunk of the 28 earned by the Ravens on Thursday, which put the team in fourth place following the first day of the two-day, 10-team meet.

Everidge's throw was enough to win the weight throw by a little over four inches. He was able to out-distance a whole flotilla of Southern Connecticut State throwers, as senior Bernardo Mbaya took second (15.85m), sophomore Gary Robinson Jr. was third (15.84m) and sophomore Adelina de Daveiga finished fourth (15.80m). Senior Croix Albee (Trenton, Maine) added three more points for the Ravens with a sixth-place finish in the event, at 14.33 meters. Outside the points, sophomore Sal Lando (Sterling, Mass.) took ninth (13.76m), while junior Victor Da Silva (Shrewsbury, Mass.) finished 17^th (11.29m).

Elsewhere on Thursday, sophomore Stephen Harris (Billerica, Mass.) got to work in the 60-meter dash. Running in the fourth of four heats, Harris cruised to a heat victory in a time of 6.94 seconds, which was the second-fastest heat time of the day. The heat win put him through to the event final, which is set for Friday at 1:40 p.m. Harris also got through to the final in the 200-meter dash, as his time of 22.24 seconds was good enough for third-fastest on the day and a spot in Friday's 2:30 p.m. final.

Senior Devin Jones (Manchester, N.H.) narrowly missed out on the 200-meter final, as his 22.48-second run was good for ninth.

Also through to a Friday final was sophomore Nathan Rinaldi (Bristol, Conn.), who took second in the second heat of the 400 meters, with a run of 50.16 seconds. The seventh-fastest heat time of the day earned him an at-large ticket through to Friday's 1:50 p.m. final. Meanwhile, in the 800 meters, a second-place finish in the second heat, and the fourth-fastest time overall (1:55.30), earned sophomore Ryan Walker (Seabrook, N.H.) a place in the final, scheduled for Friday at 2:20 p.m.

All four finalists will score points for Franklin Pierce on Friday.

Also on the track, senior Cody Tallent (Bellows Falls, Vt.) picked up a point for the Ravens in the 5000 meters, where he placed eighth, with a run of 15:33. Graduate student Sebastien Vicary (Ulceby, United Kingdom) followed just outside the points in ninth, at 15:46.

It was six points for Franklin Pierce in the distance medley relay, as an all-sophomore lineup of Thomas Darrah (Thetford, Vt.), Walker, Ryan Outerbridge (Paget, Bermuda) and Wondu Summa (Burlington, Vt.) turned in a time of 10:10.

In field events, sophomore Connor Nordmann (Bethel, Conn.) chalked up three points with a sixth-place finish in the pole vault, by clearing 4.13 meters. Later, it was five points in the high jump, as Harris got up and over 1.91 meters, to finish fourth. In between the two, senior Ethan Pezzullo (Bristol, R.I.) narrowly missed points in the long jump, with a leap of 6.31 meters, to place ninth.

The NE10 Championships will conclude on Friday at Reggie Lewis Center.