Women’s Track & Field Collects Three Titles on Way to Third Place at NE10 Championships
BOSTON (February 25, 2022) -- It was a banner day for the Franklin Pierce University Ravens women's track & field team on Friday, at the second and final day of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, held at Reggie Lewis Center. Junior Nyjah Young-Bey (Montclair, N.J.) took NE10 titles in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, while sophomore Tyra Felton (Sterling, Mass.) claimed the crown in the shot put, as the Ravens put together a program-best third-place finish.
It all added up to 77 points for Franklin Pierce, which had never finished higher than sixth at the indoor championship (2018-19). The Ravens were bettered only by American International (132 points) and Southern New Hampshire (122 points). It was a day of firsts on the women's side, as it marked AIC's first-ever indoor title, while each of the top three teams recorded the best-ever indoor finish for their respective programs.
Young-Bey shone the brightest for the Ravens on Friday. She took the track first in the 400-meter final, where she turned in a winning time of 56.36 seconds. Less than an hour later, she doubled back to take first in the 200-meter final as well, with a run of 25.22 seconds. In between the two, Felton did her thing in the shot put circle, with a heave of 11.89 meters, to claim her title. Each victory was worth 10 points, as the Ravens piled up 58 points on Friday to jump up three spots from the end of Thursday's competition.
Felton was one of two Ravens to score in the shot put, as senior Samantha DeSouza (Sebago, Maine) added five points with a fourth-place finish (11.26m). Outside the points, it was a 21st-place finish (8.93m) for sophomore Beslen Childers (Wallingford, Conn.).
The only other Raven field athlete in action on Friday was senior Paola Brena (Queretaro, Mexico), who took sixth in the triple jump for three points, with a hop, skip and jump total of 11.21 meters.
All other Friday competition took place out on the track. In the mile, graduate student Bethaney Donnelly (Manchester, United Kingdom) collected six points by finishing third (5:07). In the 800 meters, it was five points for senior Alana Thompson (Westampton, N.J.), who took fourth (2:22.36). Donnelly doubled up to score in the day's longest distance as well, as she picked up five points with a fourth-place finish in the 3000 meters (10:34). Outside the points in the 3000, it was 15th for sophomore Jenna Parent (Tyngsboro, Mass.) in 12:35, and 16th for junior Alex Collins (Monroe, N.H.) in 13:10.
A pair of relays rounded out the NE10 Championships. In the 4x800, it was a seventh-place finish for the Ravens, as a lineup of graduate student Alena Masterson (Pelham, N.H.), Saylee Missel, junior Victoria Van Houten (Wantage, N.J.) and Thompson turned in a time of 10:10. It was seventh in the 4x400 as well, as a quartet of Young-Bey, Brianha Bouchard, Masterson and Donnelly put together a run of 4:07.
The Ravens will send select athletes to Boston University on Sunday, for one last chance to improve their national standing ahead of next week's NCAA Championships selections.