Records, NCAA Marks Under Siege as Women’s Track & Field Finds Success at Elm City Challenge

NEW, HAVEN, Conn. (December 8, 2018) – In what has a case as the most successful meet in the still-young history of the program, the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team launched an all-out assault on the school record book over the weekend at the Elm City Challenge, hosted by Southern Connecticut State University. The Ravens set four school records and had six performances which met NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standards, on the way to a second-place finish, out of five teams, at the meet.

Host SCSU took home the meet title with 210 points, followed by the Ravens with 136. St. Thomas Aquinas (89 points) in third, New Haven (38 points) in fourth and Post (36 points) in fifth rounded out the field.

Senior CeCe Telfer (Lebanon, N.H.) had the banner day for the Ravens, as she chalked up two of the four NCAA provisional marks and set a pair of school records in event wins. She turned in a time of 7.02 seconds to win the 55-meter dash and also won the two-day pentathlon, with a total of 3714 points.

Meanwhile, senior Lilian Baah (Danielson, Conn.) chalked up the first NCAA provisional qualifying mark of her career, as she established a new school record in the triple jump, with a winning mark of 11.64 meters. Baah also finished third in the long jump at the meet, with a distance of 5.05 meters. In all, the Ravens tallied 13 top-three finishes at the Elm City Challenge.

The remaining NCAA provisional mark came from freshman Paola Brena (Queretaro, Mexico), who cleared 1.67 meters to win the high jump. Brena had already previously hit the NCAA provisional mark in the event by clearing 1.70 meters in the season-opening meet. Brena also added a third-place finish behind Telfer in the pentathlon, with a total of 2471 points. Brena (high jump) and Telfer (55-meter hurdles) also hit NCAA provisional marks in individual events within the pentathlon, though both already posted better marks in their respective events on the season's opening weekend.

Elsewhere, the remaining school record to fall over the weekend came in the pole vault. Freshman Stephanie Phoenix (Wallingford, Conn.) was able to get up and over 3.10 meters, which was good enough for a second-place finish.

With all that accounted for, there were still seven other top-three finishes over the two days for Franklin Pierce, five of which came out on the track. In the mile, junior Julia Cormier (Northwood, N.H.) finished second (5:46.42), while sophomore Marissa Farago (Salisbury, Mass.) placed third (5:55.32). Cormier also added a third-place finish in the 3000 meters (11:43.98). Meanwhile, freshman Alana Thompson (Westampton, N.J.) cashed in a third-place finish in the 800 meters (2:26.81).

The remaining top-three on the track came courtesy of the 4x400-meter relay team, which put together a run of 4:34.91 to finish third. The lineup consisted of freshman Alena Masterson (Pelham, N.H.), junior Daijanique White (Hartford, Conn.), Thompson and Farago.

The Ravens also tallied two other top-three finishes in field events. Behind Brena in the high jump, junior Olivia Mabbett (Milford, N.H.) finished third (1.52m). Meanwhile, senior Kendra Covington (Torrington, Conn.) took second in the shot put (11.34m).

The Ravens have now hit the semester break and will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 6, when they send select athletes to the Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, New Hampshire.

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).