Despite the absence of several runners who rested after the end of the cross country season, the men's and women's indoor track teams had some solid performances at the season-opening Northeastern Invitational last weekend.The men's team had six players who finished in the top 10 of their respective events, while the women's squad had four players place in the top 15 and several others who came close.

"This was just a starting point, but it looks like we're doing better than we have done in previous years as far as where we are in the fall," women's team captain Olivia Alford '08 said.

Several cross country runners didn't compete in this event. On the men's side, John Guilinger '08 remains sidelined with a heel injury, while Matt Jennings '09, Paul Norton '11 and Tim Condon '08 were given the week to rest. The women's team competed without Katy Agule '09, Emily Terrin '08, Ally Connolly '10 and Adie Sprague '08.

On the men's side, three runners placed in the top 10 in running events. Mekonen Gendebo '11 and Mike Stone '09 finished in eighth and ninth place, respectively, out of 61 runners in the 3,000-meter event, continuing the momentum they gained from strong cross country seasons

"Both of them raced well," Dan Suher '08 said. "[Gendebo] has more to learn tactically, but timewise, he was where we expected him to be. Stone sat back and ran a really smart, tactical race."

Suher took the other top-10 finish in running events, coming in ninth out of 66 runners in the one-mile event with a time of 4 minutes, 26.74 seconds.

He nearly caught the eighth-place finisher, Northeastern University rookie Andy Cazeau, at the end of the race, finishing less than four tenths of a second behind him.

"[Cazeau] was way in front of me, and I was trying to reel him in, but there wasn't enough track left to catch him," Suher said.

The Judges also got three top-10 finishes in field events. Matt Hohmann '11 and Shyam Vimal '09 finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the triple jump with leaps of 12.77 and 12.57 meters, respectively.

"When I was in high school, I would just do the triple jump without a lot of practice," Hohmann said. "Now that I'm practicing it more, I'm more comfortable."

Frank Longo '08 added an eighth-place finish in the high jump event, clearing six meters on his best jump.

On the women's side, Michelle Gelman '11 starred in her first collegiate meet, finishing in 15th place out of 133 runners with a time of 26:96, while Alford was two spots behind Gelman in the same event with a time of 27:18.

"I think Gelman is going to be really good for the team," Alford said. "She's already taking charge in workouts."

Members of the young cross country team also had high finishes in the one-mile event. Marie Lemay '11 led the way with a 13th-place finish out of 42 runners, while Beth Pisarik '10 and Hannah Lindholm '11 were right behind each other in 16th and 17th places, respectively.

Even though the Judges didn't post any top-10 performances, captain Sandra Canuto '08 said they are well on track so far this season.

"We're really confident with how well we did," she said. "Nobody walked away disappointed."

Suher echoed those sentiments, particularly regarding distance runners Gendebo and Stone, who are coming off the cross country season. He said that they are already running faster than the team's top runners at this point last season, and as long as they improve at a normal rate, they should spur the team to a higher overall finish.

The two teams next race at the Harvard Invitational Saturday at 10 a.m.