NEW HAVEN, Conn. (January 22, 2022) -- Senior Paola Brena (Queretaro, Mexico) led the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team to a second-place finish, out of eight teams, after she claimed first in the high jump on Saturday at the William Sutherland Invitational, hosted by Southern Connecticut State. Brena also finished second in the triple jump with an 11.02-meter performance.

Brena got up and over 1.70 meters while winning the high jump, which was good enough to hit the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard again, and moved her up to 11^th in the country. Brena is the Northeast-10 Conference leader in the event.

Elsewhere in field events, senior Stephanie Phoenix (Wallingford, Conn.) took second in the pole vault after clearing 2.9 meters. She was followed by Teresa Deasy in third with a 2.45-meter performance. Sophomore Tyra Felton (Sterling, Mass.) won the shot put, with a throw of 11.71 meters. She was followed closely by senior Samantha DeSouza (Sebago, Maine), who threw 11.22 meters to claim third. Felton also finished sixth in the weight throw with a 12.78-meter throw.

Out on the track, junior Nyjah Young-Bey (Montclair, N.J.) crossed the line first in the 400-meter dash, with her 58.18-second performance. She also ran the 55-meter dash in 7.36 seconds, to finish second. Also in the 400-meter dash were senior Saylee Missel, graduate student Alena Masterson (Pelham, N.H.) and senior Alana Thompson (Westampton, N.J.), who took fourth (1:01.95), seventh (1:05.00) and eighth (1:05.71), respectively. Brianha Bouchard took fourth after clearing the 55-meter hurdles in 9.25 seconds.

In the 800 meters, sophomore Meghan Sheline (Southington, Conn.) ran a time of 2:43 to claim fourth, followed by junior Victoria Van Houten (Wantage, N.J.) in fifth for her 2:46 time.

Brena is not the team's only NE10 event leader, as Young-Bey now leads the league in the 400-meter dash, following Saturday's performance, while Missel slotted into ninth in the same event. Elsewhere, Brena moved up to fourth in the NE10 in the triple jump and Felton moved up to fourth in the shot put.

The Ravens will split the squad up next weekend, sending competitors to both Boston University and Tufts.