By Cynthia Retamozo

The men’s and women’s 2007-08 indoor track season opened Saturday with the Husky Track and Field Carnival at the Reggie Lewis Center, where the women’s side competed against 27 other teams while the men’s side went against 36.

The Carnival was a nonscoring meet, with the purpose to see where each athlete stands in his or her field and to discover any team strengths and weaknesses, said head coach Sherman Hart.

He said he was impressed with the Huskies’ overall performance, but saw room for improvement, especially with the younger athletes.

“We have some ways to go and some things to improve on,” Hart said. “This is the youngest team I’ve had in 20 years, especially on the women’s side.”

In the 55-meter dash, sophomore Consandria Walker placed second in 7.32. For the 400-meter dash, junior Colleen Hill placed ninth in 1:02.41.

Freshman Christi Gallagher, who achieved success during the fall cross country season, finished second for the 800-meter run in 2:21.04. Freshman Seri Gordon, who was also a key runner during the fall, placed seventh in the 1,000-meter run in 2:58.19.

Returning veteran junior Kristie Gagnon set a NU record in the 5,000-meter run, coming in at fifth with a time of 17:40.99. Freshman Annie Scully crossed the line behind Gagnon in 17:49.65.

Senior Tramaine Shaw won the 55-meter hurdle event, finishing in 8.12.

Junior Kristen Ripple placed fifth in the high jump event, reaching a height of 1.57 meters. In the long jump, sophomore Celeste Holder placed fourth with a length of 5.41 meters. Walker placed ninth (5.17 m) in the same event.

Senior Patricia Harrison, who sat out last year due to an ankle injury, won the shot put event, throwing a distance of 13.03 meters. Freshman Althea Charles placed fifth in the same event (11.88 m). For the weight throw event, sophomore Colleen Sorensen placed sixth with a distance of 13.29 meters.

For the pole vault, junior Olivia Kalinowska came in at third, reaching a height of 3.50 meters. Junior Dara Samuel placed fifth (3.35 m) while sophomore Kristen Hafford placed eight (3.20 m).

The women’s 4×400 meter relay team placed third overall (4:00.33).

For the men’s side, sophomore Jonathan Hall placed fourth in a time of 1:06.12. Freshman Andy Cazeau, another key runner during the fall, took eighth in the 1,600-meter run (4:26.35). In the 3,000-meter run, senior veteran Tom Brown took fifth (8:49.33) with sophomore Joshua Boss taking seventh (8:57.70).

In the 1,000-meter run, freshman Evan Whetsell placed eighth (2:37.03). Senior Jack Sherman placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles (7.91). In the shot put, sophomore Michael Page took fourth (14.21 m) with freshman Patrick Jablonski taking eigth (13.83 m).

Sophomore Adrian Li won the high jump event, reaching a height of 1.98 meters. Freshman Andrew Staples placed third (1.87 m) in the same event. Staples then took eighth in the long jump (6.58 m).

In the weight throw, senior Ed Rearson placed sixth (15.62 m). In the triple jump, freshman Brian Racca placed fourth (13.21 m).

Sophomore Jordan Thull placed second in the pole vault with a height of 4.8 meters. In sixth of the same event was senior Jack Sherman (4.4 m).

The men’s 4×400 meter relay team placed sixth overall with a time of 3:35.63.

The next meet for the Huskies will be the Roxbury Community College Invitational Jan. 5. This nonscoring meet, Hart said, that will get the team back in shape before the Dartmouth Relays Jan. 11, the first scoring meet of the season.