Women’s Track & Field Seventh at SNHU, Competitive at Conn. College
MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 13, 2019) – Nine top-10 finishes – highlighted by an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark by senior Lilian Baah (Danielson, Conn.) in the triple jump – led the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team to a seventh place finish, out of 28 teams, at the Penmen Relays, hosted by Southern New Hampshire, on Saturday. In addition, on Friday, the Ravens saw some success in select events at the Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College in New London, Conn.
The weekend opened with a pair of school-record performances on Friday night at the Silfen Invitational. Freshman Stephanie Phoenix (Wallingford, Conn.) got up and over 3.10 meters in the pole vault to set a new program record and finish fifth. Meanwhile, junior Julia Cormier (Northwood, N.H.) lopped eight seconds off the program record in the 10,000 meters, to finish eighth, with a time of 39:07.90.
Sophomore Lauren Stankiewicz (Naugatuck, Conn.) also finished a respectable 14th, behind Cormier, in the 10,000 (40:51.33), while freshman Alana Thompson (Westampton, N.J.) took 15th in the 800 meters (2:23.20).
On Saturday at SNHU, it was a 43-point performance for Franklin Pierce to finish seventh. Assumption took first place (112 points) at the meet, followed by the host Penmen in second (80 points) and Rhode Island College in third (77 points).
Franklin Pierce put together nine top-10 finishes on the day, all of which came in field events. Baah had the outing of the weekend, as she set a new school record in the triple jump, with a mark of 11.90 meters. The distance was not only good enough to win the event, but met the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard as well. Baah added an eighth-place finish in the long jump too, with a mark of 5.15 meters.
Junior Katey Comstock (Windsor, Vt.) posted a pair of top-10 finishes on the day as well. She finished fifth in both the shot put (11.40m) and the discus (37.76m). Meanwhile, Phoenix doubled back and cleared 2.90 meters in the pole vault on Saturday, to finish third.
Behind Comstock in the shot put, freshman Samantha DeSouza (Sebago, Maine) collected a ninth-place finish, with a distance of 11.09 meters. Junior Savannah Drowne (Athol, Mass.) took eighth in the hammer, with a mark of 42.79 meters.
Franklin Pierce had a pair of top-five finishes in the high jump to round out the day's success. Freshman Paola Brena (Queretaro, Mexico) continued her dominance in the event by clearing 1.65 meters to finish first, while junior Olivia Mabbett (Milford, N.H.) got over 1.50 meters to finish fifth.
The Ravens return to action on Friday, April 19, when select athletes will head to Princeton for the Larry Ellis Invitational. The full squad will be back at it on Saturday, April 20, at Fitchburg State for the Eric Loeschner Memorial Invite.
For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). 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 & field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).