Makopa Rugabirwa places 151st as second highest Raven
finisher
NCAA RESULTS
SPOKANE, Wash. (November 23, 2013) – The Franklin
Pierce University men's cross country team placed
25th out of 32 teams with 656 points Saturday at the
NCAA Division II National Championship race at Plantes Ferry
Athletic Complex in Spokane, Wash.
The Ravens were the highest
finishing East Region team at the national championship event,
finishing ahead of fellow Northeast-10 Conference member Stonehill
(28th, 724 points) and Wilmington (Del.)
(30th, 766 points). Adams State won the national
championship with 54 points, and had one of its runners, Tabor
Stevens, claim the individual title with a first-place time of
29:50.10 in the 10k race.
Franklin Pierce besting the other
East Region schools in Saturday's race was a fitting end to
the Ravens' 2013 season, as they were one of the top teams in
the region all season along, including winning three races, and
earning a pair of second-place finishes in the NE-10 championship,
and the NCAA East Region Championship.
Sophomore Colton Ham
(Webster, N.H.) was the highest finisher for the Ravens on
the afternoon, as he placed 112th out of 246 competitors
in a time of 32:28.40. It marked the first race this season that
Ham was the highest finisher for Franklin Pierce.
Classmate Makopa Rugabirwa
(Concord, N.H.) was not too far behind Ham's pace,
as he placed 127th with a time of 32:37.20.
Junior Antoine Gisore
(Concord, N.H.) finished 151st in a time of
32:50.20, as he was competing in his second NCAA National
Championship race in three years. As a rookie in 2011, and before
transferring to Franklin Pierce, Gisore competed in the NCAA
Division III National Championship.
The other two Ravens to count
towards the team score in the national race were freshman
Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) and sophomore
Isaac Fithian (Kingston, N.H.), who finished
159th and 208th, respectively. Holmes
recorded a time of 32:58.40, while Fithian had a mark of
33:51.70.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce men's cross country, please visit the team's
page at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu. To
follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce
Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports),
Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics)
and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).
Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce cross country apparel can
do so on the athletic department's online store at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
