The men’s and women’s track teams opened the outdoor season on Saturday with a pair of strong showings in the Jerry Gravel Classic at Westfield State College. The Wesleyan women tied for third in a field of 18 teams with 76 points, while the Cardinal men placed fifth of 16 (and fourth among Division III schools) with 46 points.

The Cardinal women were led by the strong efforts of its relay teams and distance runners. Ravenna Neville ’10 took second in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 37:41.90 to give the Cardinals eight points, and the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams each took second. Wesleyan also had three top-eight finishers in the 5,000m (Rosie Keogh ’13, fourth; Nellie Triedman ’13, seventh; Hannah Zimmerman ’13, eighth) and two each in the 400m and 800m. Mark took second in the 1500m (4:48.71), and Kathryn Kulowski ’11 took second in the high jump and eighth in the triple jump, with Isabella Cucchi ’13 placing sixth in the long jump. Kiran Sheffrin ’10 rounded out the day with a fourth-place finish in the 100 hurdles (17:22).

The Cardinal men were led by the second-place time of Chris Coleman ’10 in the 800-meter run (1:56.29). Right behind him was Justin Spring ’10, who took fourth in the race. Spring took fourth in the 1500m as well, with Matt Katz ’11 placing sixth. Skyler Cummins ’13 and Brendan Sheehan ’11 took third and fourth, respectively, in the 10k race. Kyle Shin ’11 took sixth in the 400m hurdles, and the 4×400 relay team of Jack Pacelle ’13, Nelson Norsworthy ’10, Avinash Sridhar ’10, and Coleman took third with a time of 3:29.77. On the field, Mike Moody ’10 placed fourth in the hammer throw.

Next up for the Cardinals is this Saturday’s Coast Guard Invitational.