The Hartford men's and women's track and field teams took on Vermont in Burlington today for a dual track meet to open their 2015-2016 season.The Hawks competed in a total of 27 events, racking up 53 points total between individual and team events, short of Vermont's 227.Some of the highlights of the day were the performances of both Junior Dom DiCarlo and Junior Alex Paterson, who both posted strong results in the 55-meter and 300-meter sprints. DiCarlo placed 3rd with a qualifying time of 6.76 in the 55-meter prelims, while Paterson was close behind in 5th, clocking in at 6.82. DiCarlo and Paterson finished 3rd and 5th again in the final.Head coach Roger Busch also praised his team's female high jumpers for their effort in today's match up."(Junior) Lauren Bossi and (Senior) Maggie Fuller had a great start to their indoor season, nearly jumping lifetime-best jumps," Busch said. Fuller and Bossi grabbed a combined three points for Hartford, finishing third and fourth in the women's high jump.In the men's triple jump, senior Robert Pepper took down Vermont freshman Kevin Desmond with a total distance of 12.80 meters logged to give the Hawks a five-point boost. Junior John Fairhust secured another five for Hartford in the men's shot put event after John Cioffredi of Vermont was called for a foul, leaving Vermont without a point in that event. Busch was impressed by the play of Briana Burt, a former soccer player at Hartford, whose performances this afternoon did not go unnoticed by the coaching staff."Briana Burt had a nice day in the 55-meter hurdle and 55-meter after only being with us for two weeks," said Busch. Burt, a sophomore, was Hartford's top scorer in the women's 55-meter hurdles and on the 55-meter dash, logging a hurdle time of 9.11, earning two points, and a 55-meter dash qualifying time of 7.55.In the men's 3000-meter run, Senior Chris Helminski and Freshman Willy Pierce were Hartford's top finishers, finishing 5th and 6th with times of 9:12.83 and 9:15.61, respectively. Helminski and Pierce often found themselves among Hartford's top finishers in the cross country season this fall, and Busch said he expects them to be a key part of his distance team.Busch expects his squad to get better throughout the season with more practice and attention to detail, as he is using these opening meets as the best method of practice to get prepared for the season ahead."We simply need to keep working hard and understand that because of limited access to facilities that our best results will come later in the season," Busch said.Hartford has now opened their track & field seasons in Burlington for the sixth consecutive season, dating back to 2010-2011.Up next for the Hawks is the Jay Carisella Invite at Northeastern in Boston on Saturday, Dec. 12.