Ham finished 18th out of 293 runners at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday

RINDGE, N.H. (Septebmer 17, 2012) -- Franklin Pierce University freshman Colton Ham (Webster, N.H.) on Monday was named the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Week for his impressive finish over the weekend.

In just his second collegiate race on Saturday, Ham finished 18th out of 293 runners at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational. He ran the 8k race in a time of 25:35.55 and was the second fastest NE-10 runner in the field.

He helped propel Franklin Pierce to a 14th place finish out of 38 teams as the Ravens were the highest placing NE-10 school in the field, besting Bentley, Assumption, Saint Anselm and Southern New Hampshire.

Both the Franklin Pierce men's and women's cross country teams return to action on Saturday when the Ravens travel to compete in the Ted Owens Invitational in Berlin, Conn.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's and women's cross country, please visit their respective team pages at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the programs even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). You can also follow cross country/track & field head coach Zach Emerson on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RavensCoachXCTF(.)