SPRINGFIELD, Mass (April 3, 2021) – Sophomore Julieth Nwosu (Brockton, Mass.) wasted no time making her mark to start the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field season, as the team returned to action for the first time in over a year. Nwosu notched a school record in her first outing of the year at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, hosted by American International, as she set a new program high-water mark in the shot put. The Ravens had athletes in action at two meets on Saturday, as they also attended the Wilton Wright Invitational, hosted by Southern Connecticut State, in New Haven, Conn.

At the Yellow Jacket Invitational (results), the Ravens collected 10 top-three finishes on the day. In shot put, Franklin Pierce dominated the top of the field with the top five throws. The Nwosu sisters finished one-two, as Julieth took first with her program-record throw of 13.33 meters, and freshman Nkechi Nwosu (Brockton, Mass.) followed in second (11.95m). Julieth Nwosu broke a record set in 2017 by then-freshman Katey Comstock (Windsor, Vt.). Now a graduate student, Comstock threw 10.89 meters on Saturday to take fourth place, behind junior Samantha DeSouza (Sebago, Maine) in third place (11.11m).

Franklin Pierce hogged the podium in discus as well. Nkechi Nwosu finished first at 37.30 meters, followed by Julieth Nwosu in second, with a throw of 34.65 meters, and Comstock in third at 34.30 meters. DeSouza was not far behind in fifth place with a mark of 32.40 meters.

In the hammer, sophomore Julia Groll (Southington, Conn.) took first with a 38.26-meter toss. Freshman Valeria Lamas (Fall River, Mass.) came in fifth at 18.00 meters. In the javelin, junior Jessica Brewster (Castleton, Vt.) placed second at 26.66 meters.

On the track in Springfield, sophomore Nyjah Young-Bey (Montclair, N.J.) placed third in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 12.90 seconds, and fifth in the 200 meters, at 26.08 seconds. Sophomore Destini Hill-Edwards (Paget, Bermuda) added a top-five in the 100 meters, as she placed fifth (13.18).

Elsewhere, in New Haven at the Wilton Wright Invitational (results), junior Alana Thompson (Westhampton, N.J.) collected a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter event (2:30.79), while graduate student Bethany Donnelly (Manchester, United Kingdom) picked up a second-place finish in the 3000 meters (10:26.91).

In the field at SCSU, junior Paola Breña (Queretaro, Mexico) took home second place in the high jump with a 1.60-meter jump. The pole vault also had a Raven finish second, as junior Stephanie Phoenix (Wallingford, Conn.) cleared 2.90 meters.

As a team at the Yellow Jacket Invitational, the Ravens finished in third place, with 96 points. At the Wilton Wright Invitational, it was 33 points and a sixth-place finish.

The Ravens are scheduled to return to SCSU next weekend, for the James Barber Tri-Meet, on Sunday, April 11.