The men's and women's track teams turned in strong opening performances at the Purdue Open Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind.

Though team scores were not kept at the meet, the Irish set the bar high for the rest of the indoor season with a combined six first place finishes.

On the women's side, the Irish dominated the 400 meters, claiming the first three places. Freshman Tiffany Gunn won the race in 58.32, followed by junior Kymia Love in second (58.40). Sophomore Kristen Dodd finished third in 58.44. Gunn then finished third both in the preliminaries and in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles.

Tameisha King jumped 19-6 1/2 in the long jump, taking first place in the event. Sophomore Ayesha Boyd finished second in the 60 meters in 7.70, which was a personal best performance. Boyd then won the 200 meters in 24.18.

Sophomore Kevin Somok led the Irish middle distance runners in the 800 meters, winning the race in 1:57.67. Junior Doug Gunzelman was next in 1:58.52, followed by Colin Quinn in third (1:59.28) and Geof Rudziewicz in fifth (1:59.61).

The Irish also showed their strength in the distance events, as sophomore Kevin Avenius won the 1600 meters in 4:19.62. Freshman Eric Morrison was third (4:22.95), while senior Tom Lennon took seventh (4:26.39).

In the early indoor competition, some talented freshmen found their place as team scorers in their first collegiate races. Freshman Trevor McClain-Duer ended up fourth in the 400. Selim Nurudeen had two top-three finishes in the 60-meter hurdles.

In the field events for the men, Junior Tom Gilbert won the long jump with a jump of 22'-10", and senior Quill Redwine took second on the triple jump.

Derek Dyer finished fifth in both the shot put preliminaries and finals.

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