NEW YORK – The Columbia track & field team opened the 2011 outdoor season with competitions on both coasts, as Lions competed at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., and at the Big 5 Invitational in Philadelphia, Pa. 

The Lions had several strong distance performances from athletes competing in Palo Alto.  In the men's 5000m run, first-year Nicolas Composto came in at 14:22.44, while junior Paul Snyder finished fourth in his section, with a time of 14:17.14. In the men's 10,000m run, senior Brendan Martin finished 11th out of 50 runners, with a time of 29:44.55. And sophomore Mike Murphy also performed well, coming in at 30:01.18.

On the women's side, Columbia had strong performances from two sophomores in the 5000m run. Clare Buck came in at 16:44.90, while Noelle Van Rysselberghe came in fifth in her section with a time of 16:53.83.

Up next for the Columbia track & field team is another split weekend, as most of the team will travel to Princeton to take part in the Sam Howell Invitational, while some athletes will head to Gainsville, Fla., to take part in the Pepsi Florida Relays.