KENT, Ohio - The Allegheny men's track and field team closed out the two-day, season-opening Kent State Golden Flash Gala with a number of strong performances.

Competing against a field riddled with primarily Division I and II foes, Gator head coach Justin Linzy was more then encouraged with how his group fared.

"To go against that kind of competition this early in the year and race as well as we did, it's encouraging," said the coach.  "In my years doing this, this was the best first meet that I've seen from a team in a long time."

The first meet of the season was Linzy's first chance to see a number of his team's rookies compete for the first time, and the newcomers all fared well.

The team's rookies were especially impressive in the long jump, with both Brett White and Josh Flack qualifying for the finals.  White led the way with a leap of 6.17 meters to take eighth in the 15-jumper field, while fellow first-year Josh Flack placed ninth at 6.14 meters.  They were two of just four Division-III athletes that competed in the event.

"Seeing those two young jumpers making the finals in a strong field was great," said Linzy.  "They gave themselves an opportunity to do something big, and it was a solid debut for both of them."

White went on to lead the Gators in the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.34, while another first-year, Sean Parenti, turned his coach's head with an eighth-place finish in the 500 meter dash, timed in 1:10.41.

"That was a great performance by Sean against a really strong field," said Linzy.  "He was going up against all Division-I and II guys, but a time of 70 seconds like that would probably place at just about any Division III conference championship. For a freshman to do it, that was big."

While a number of rookies were impressive in their debuts, a group of Gator veterans also fared well.  Junior Allen Baugh established a new personal record in the 300 meter dash with a time of 36.94 seconds, while a day after establishing a new PR in the weight throw, sophomore Kurtis Williams led all Division III competitors in the shot put with a heave of 13.99 meters.

"It was a really good meet to enter break with," Linzy said.  ""We really represented ourselves well, and it really gives us something positive to build off of as we head into winter training."

The Gators will now have a six-week layoff over the semester break, and will return to action on Jan. 21 at the North Coast Athletic Conference Quad hosted by the College of Wooster.