Ham in 8k race; Lambert in 5k race

RINDGE, N.H. (January 31, 2013) -- Franklin Pierce University freshman standouts Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) and Alyssa Lambert (Manchester, N.H.) will represent the school in competition on Saturday as the duo competes at the 2013 USATF Junior Cross Country National Championships at Forest Park in St. Louis, Mo.

Ham will compete in the 8k portion of the national championship, while Lambert will take part in the 6k event. Both races will encompass the best high schoolers and college freshmen thin clads in the United States. To compete in the junior portion of the national championships, all competitors must be under the age of 20.

Ham is coming off a sensational fall season for the Ravens as he earned All-Northeast-10 Conference honors and All-East Region honors from the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Ham earned all-conference honors by placing 19th out of 108 harriers in a time of 26:22.4 at the NE-10 Championship back in October. He garnered all-region honors by finishing 30th out of 188 runners in a time of 31:43.0 at the NCAA East Regional Championship back in November. The NE-10 championship was an 8k race, while the regional was a 10k event.

Lambert had a solid debut season for the Ravens in cross country, as her highlight was a 47th place finish at the Pop Crowell Invitational on Sept. 29. She finished the 5k race in a time of 20:10.7, which established a new school-record for the fastest time in that distance. She also owns the school 6k record with a time of 24:00.3 at the NCAA regional championship.

Lambert has had a strong indoor track season as she ranks as the second fastest freshman in the mile in the Northeast-10. She moved up among the top two rookies in that event with a mark of 5:20 at last weekend's BU Invitational.

Franklin Pierce will also be represented at this weekend's national championship by graduate assistant coach Sarah Lagasse, who will be competing in the Open Women's 8k race. Lagasse is currently in her first season on the Ravens cross country and track coaching staff, and came to Rindge after a stellar collegiate career at Bridgewater State.

For more information on the Franklin Pierce Track & Field/Cross Country programs, please visit the teams' respective pages at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the programs even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase track & field or cross country apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)