Women’s Track & Field Places Second at ECSU

Women’s Track & Field Places Second at ECSU

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (April 21, 2017) – Four event wins and a pair of school records added up to a second-place finish for the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team on Friday at the Eastern Invitational, hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University.

Franklin Pierce finished the Eastern Invitational with 151 points to place second. The Ravens were just 24 points behind Bridgewater State, which tallied 175 points to win.

Junior Emily Quinn (West Bridgewater, Mass.) highlighted the day for the Ravens, as she punched her ticket to the NEICAAA Championships in the hammer throw. She launched a school-record throw of 50.20 meters to win the event, and now ranks third in both the Northeast-10 Conference and the East Region in the event.

Meanwhile, freshman Catherine Purves (Dalkeith, Scotland) put together another strong outing for the crimson and grey, as she picked up a pair of wins and posted another school record. The school record came in the 200-meter dash, where she ran a time of 25.83 seconds, which ranks 10th in the NE10. Her other win came in the 100-meter hurdles, where she ran a time of 14.74, which was just one-hundredth of a second (0.01) off her season best.

Purves was followed in the 100-meter hurdles by senior Breigh Souliere (Cumberland, R.I.), who finished second. Her time of 15.49 seconds ranks seventh in the NE10 and ninth in the East Region.

Franklin Pierce's remaining win on the day came courtesy of freshman Katey Comstock (Windsor, Vt.) who was able to heave the shot put 11.75 meters. Comstock also placed second in the discus, with a throw of 35.66 meters.

Comstock led a flock of Ravens at the top of the shot put results, as Franklin Pierce took the top four spots. Behind Comstock, sophomore Kendra Covington (Torrington, Conn.) took second (10.98m), senior Patience Turkson (Ellington, Conn.) finished third (10.64m) and freshman Savannah Drowne (Athol, Mass.) placed fourth (10.46m).

Elsewhere on Friday, junior Natalie Davies (Ware, Mass.) finished second in the 3000-meter steeplechase, while senior Kendra Plant (Cumberland, R.I.) took third in the hammer throw (43.06m). Davies' mark ranks fourth in the NE10 and fifth in the East Region, while Plant's distance ranks sixth at both the league and regional level.

The Ravens return to the track on Saturday, April 22, when they head for the George Davis Invitational in Lowell, Mass., hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce track and field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).