By Nate Owen

The Northeastern women’s track team competed in two separate meets to kick off the outdoor season this weekend: the Ram Invitational, held in Richmond, Va., and the Hurricane Invitational, held in Miami.

The team was split between the meets. Most of the sprinters traveled south to Florida, in part to avoid the cold weather, coach Sherman Hart said.

In Miami, junior thrower Zara Northover took second in the shot put with a distance of 49 feet, 3 inches. Sophomore Tremaine Shaw took third in the 400-meter hurdles for the Huskies.

In Virginia, Northeastern dominated the 800-meter run, taking the top four spots in the event. Junior Erin Ballard finished first with a time of 2:15.75. She was followed by sophomore Laura McCloskey, junior Natalie Pennicooke and freshman Brittany Moriarty.

Coach Hart was impressed with the finish in the 800-meter, he said.

In other events at Virginia, freshman distance runner Kristie Gagnon came in first in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 38:19.33. Freshman Olivia Kalinowska took first place in the pole vault with a height just over 11 feet. Sophomore thrower Patricia Harrison placed fifth in the shot put with a distance of 41 feet, 6 inches.

“Olivia did well for [the pole vault] and overall most of the girls went down and did well,” Hart said.

Northeastern continues its outdoor season Saturday with the Snowflake Classic at the Solomon Track in Dedham.