Milena Kulik clearly has something to build upon.

The graduate of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and first year Psychology major at Laurentian University burst onto the OUA scene, quite literally, at the York Holiday Open Indoor Track & Field Meet this past weekend in Toronto.

Placing fourth in the women's 300 metre race with a personal best time of 42.12 seconds, Kulik qualified for the OUA Championships in February all while posting the fifth fastest time in school history at that distance.

Kulik also established a new personal best in the 60 metre sprint event with an OUA qualifying time of 8.09 seconds in the heats and 8.12 seconds in the final, good for a 12th place finish. This performance places Kulik in the #6 position all-time at Laurentian.

She was but the tip of the iceberg in terms of solid season opening performances for the Laurentian women as Shelley Hladin (4th - triple jump - 10.68 metres; 8th - long jump - 4.97 metres), Alissa Diavolitsis (12th - 300m - 43.26), Finlay Cuza (16th - 300m - 44.14) and Sadie Bridgeman (16th - long jump - 4.63 metres) all showed well.

Additionally, the team of Kulik/Cuza/Hladin/Diavolitsis posted the third fastest 4 X 200 metre relay time in L.U. history, crossing the line in 1:48.57 to finish fourth at York.

A pair of returning members of the Voyageurs' men's team also hit the provincial standard early as Abdul Abiodun (8th - 7.17 seconds) and Josh Kim (12th - 7.22 seconds) both qualified in the 60m dash.

The future of Laurentian Indoor Track was on display in the men's 300 metre event as a trio of first year Voyageurs finished within one second of each other: Adam Urso (11th - 37.17); Corey Lacroix (14th - 37.48); and Christian Hodgins (16th - 37.79).

Lacroix and Hodgins then teamed with Kim and Abiodun in the 4 X 200m relay, their time of 1:35.42 ranking fourth fastest, all-time.

An ever expanding Laurentian team also fared well in the field events, led by sophomore jumper Delali Afidenyo (6th - triple jump - 13.11 metres). First year kinesiology student Gabe Gauvreau from Sudbury placed 16th in long jump with a leap of 5.90 metres, while Josh Kim placed 18th in the same event (5.64 metres).

"We are very really proud of the way our athletes came out ready to compete at our first competition of the season", noted Laurentian Lead Sprints and Jumps Coach, Jim Taylor.

"Our first year athletes competed like veterans and put up some impressive early season numbers. Their energy during the competition has me excited for our next meet in Windsor in early January."