CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (January 8, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team returned from the holiday break on Saturday afternoon, at the Art Farnham Invitational, hosted by MIT. Graduate student Bethaney Donnelly (Manchester, United Kingdom) and senior Paola Brena (Queretaro, Mexico) both posted event wins on the day.

The meet was not scored from a team perspective.

Neither Donnelly nor Brena appeared to show much in the way of rust coming out of the break, as both returned to action with event wins. Donnelly turned in a time of 3:12 to win the 1000 meters, while Brena put together a mark of 10.53 meters to take first in the triple jump. Brena's triple jump distance is currently good for seventh in the Northeast-10 Conference on the season.

Donnelly led a field saturated with Ravens in the 1000 meters, as Franklin Pierce fielded the only six competitors in the event. As such, it was a top-five sweep for the crimson and grey, as Donnelly was followed home by senior Alana Thompson (Westampton, N.J.) in second (3:20), senior Alena Masterson (Pelham, N.H.) in third (3:29), sophomore Emma Cutter (Newburyport, Mass.) in fourth (3:52) and junior Alex Collins (Monroe, N.H.) in fifth (3:58).

Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Grace Silva (Warren, R.I.) took second in the 60-meter dash (9.39), while Brianha Bouchard was second in the 60-meter hurdles (9.98). Bouchard tripled up on the day, as she was also third in the triple jump (9.62m) and fourth in the long jump (4.60m).

It was a smattering of top-five finishes elsewhere in field events for the Ravens. Brena doubled up to tie for second in the high jump (1.58m). Senior Stephanie Phoenix (Wallingford, Conn.) finished fourth in the pole vault, by clearing 2.90 meters. Sophomore Tyra Felton (Sterling, Mass.) took second in the weight throw (12.80m) and third in the shot put (10.97m), while senior Samantha DeSouza (Sebago, Maine) added a second-place finish in the shot put (11.40m). Felton is now sixth in the NE10 in the weight throw.

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