Junior B.J. Smith set a facility record while winning the 3000-meter steeplechase on Saturday, while senior Colton Ham took first in the 10,000 meters, as a pair of victories led the way for the Franklin Pierce University men’s track and field team at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, hosted by American International.
Smith’s winning steeplechase time of 9:33.24 was the fastest ever turned in at AIC’s John G. Hoyt Track & Field complex, and was also good enough for second in the Northeast-10 Conference so far this spring. Ham’s winning 10,000-meter time of 31:50.41 also ranked second in the league, and met the NEICAAA Championships qualifying standard as well.
The Ravens saw their most voluminous success in the 110-meter hurdles, where four runners put together times which rank in the top-10 in the Northeast-10. Senior Vincent Biunno led the way in sixth place (15.71), with the Conference’s fifth-fastest time, and was followed by sophomore Craig Telfer in seventh (15.77), junior Cory Cataldo in eighth (15.80) and junior Mark Choiniere in ninth (15.87). The times of Telfer, Cataldo and Choiniere ranked sixth, seventh and eighth in the NE-10, respectively.
Telfer also posted the league’s eighth-fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles, as he turned in a mark of 58.37 seconds to finish seventh. Sophomore Nicholas Jacques had a pair of top-10 marks as well. In the 100-meter dash, he ran a time of 11.32 seconds to finish ninth and rank seventh in the Northeast-10. In the 200-meter dash, he placed third, with a mark of 22.76 seconds, which tied him for sixth in the Conference. Elsewhere in track events, junior Jon Holmes placed fourth in the 800 meters, with a time of 1:56.56, which is good for seventh in the league.
A pair of Ravens added top-five finishes in jumping events on Saturday at AIC. Sophomore Rindal Pierre-Canel took third in the long jump, with a leap of 6.58 meters. Graduate student Andre Wooten turned in a hop, skip and jump of 13.66 meters to take fifth in the triple jump.
For the women’s team, senior Nadine Hyde won the hammer throw and senior Alyssa Lambert won the 5000 meters on Saturday, leading the way for the Franklin Pierce University women’s track and field team at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, hosted by American International.
Hyde came up with a heave of 44.02 meters to win the hammer throw, which was good enough to rank her third in the Northeast-10 so far this spring in the event. Meanwhile, Lambert’s winning 5000-meter time was 17:24.34, which put her second in the league.
Three other Ravens put together notable performances in field events on Saturday. Behind Hyde in the hammer throw, junior Kendra Plant put together a seventh-place finish with a throw of 41.80 meters, which ranked sixth in the Northeast-10. Elsewhere, junior Miranda Gagnon took fifth in the javelin (37.27m), while junior Samantha Toscano moved to 11th in the league in the triple jump with a ninth-place finish (10.35m).
Back on the track, junior Breigh Souliere took sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, with a time of 16.04 seconds. Sophomore Alexa Cassara finished 14th in the 800 meters and moved to 13th in the NE-10, with a time of 2:27.11.
The Ravens return to action on April 13-14, with select athletes competing at the Holy Cross Heptathlon in Worcester, Massachusetts.