The Valparaiso men's track and field team opened its 2003 outdoor season on Friday and Saturday at the Purdue Open in West Lafayette, Ind.

Todd Goodrick (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester H.S.) and Kristopher Schmautz (Missoura, Mont./Hellgate H.S.) each turned in fifth place finishes in field events for the Crusaders. Goodrick placed fifth in the shot put with a toss of 39'4 ½" while Schmautz had a toss of 164'6" in the javelin.

On the oval, Kyle Jones (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) finished second in the 800m run, crossing the finish line in 2:00.71 while Dennis Kabara (Chuka, Kenya/Meru H.S.) earned a fourth place finish in the 1500m run with a time of 4:22.44.

Adam Wierciak (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette H.S.) was the runner-up in the 400m hurdles, breaking the tape in 57.87 seconds, while Sean Barfield (University Place, Wash./Curtis H.S.) turned in a fifth place effort in the 110m event with a time of 15.78 seconds.

Wesley Kosko (Emporia, Kan./Emporia H.S.) finished fourth in the 200m dash in 23.74 seconds.

The Crusaders will return to action next Saturday when the Brown and Gold run in a quadrangular meet in Greencastle, Ind. against DePauw, Butler, and Indiana Wesleyan.