JOPLIN, Mo. - The Butler indoor track and field team opened the 2014 season at the Missouri Southern Invitational on Saturday.

Despite only 14 athletes making the road meet, the Grizzlies had a solid showing by placing seven times in the top 5. Butler was led by Alfred Larry, who had three top 5 finishes, including a first-place finish in the men's 400-meter dash.

Larry won the event with a time of 48.99 seconds, just 1.29 seconds ahead of Missouri Southern's Jeffrey Fraley. His time qualifies him for the NJCAA indoor championships. Larry also took third in the 200-meter dash (22.52 seconds) and was part of the Butler distance medley team (Cody Frye, Evel Jones, Larry and Israel Mendoza) that placed third.

Larry, Justin Breaux and Evel Jones finished 3-4-5 in the 200m dash, while Larry and Steven Calloway took first and fourth, respectively, in the 400m dash.

On the women's side, Jonelle Reinert took third in the 400-meter dash. Freshman distance runners Tricia Trupe and Terra Flores finished seventh and eighth in the 800-meter run, while freshman Hayley Ribordy placed seventh in the 3000-meter run.

Next up for the Butler track team will be the Herm Wilson Invitational at Wichita State University this weekend. Field events begin Friday at 5 p.m., while running events will start at 3 p.m. Saturday.