GREENSBORO, NC – The University of Rochester track and field team had a stellar day of competition during day one of the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Irwin Belk Track Complex on Thursday.
 
Overall, all six competitors that are representing Rochester at nationals this week competed, either in finals or in preliminaries.
 
The Yellowjackets saw graduate student Jordan Hurlbut and the 4x400 meter relay team of Michaela Burrell, Eileen Bequette, Kristin Hardy and Susan Bansbach both qualify for finals on Saturday, finishing as second seeds in their preliminary heats.
 
The 4x400 meter relay set a new school record for the third time this season, clocking in their race with a time of 3:46.33, finishing in nearly a dead-heat with Loras for first in their heat, earning the heat win by .004 seconds. SUNY Geneseo is the top seed for the finals on Saturday, set for 3:50 pm.
 

Hurlbut in the 1500 meters crossed the finish in 4:32.71 in her prelim heat, ranking second among the 19 runners in that event, qualifying for the finals. That race on Saturday is set for 12:25 pm.
 
Sophomore pole vaulter Madeline O'Connell competed in the finals of her individual event, finishing in 11th place with a clearance of 3.70 meters. The height actually tied O'Connell for seventh place, but in the pole vault event, ties are broken by the number of attempts at a vaulters top height.
 
For O'Connell, she easily cleared the 3.70 meter height on her first try with her body, but in an unfortunate turn of events, her pole fell the wrong way and tapped the bar off its holder for a missed attempt.
 
In addition to their relay run, both Burrell and Bequette had multiple events on Thursday.
 
Burrell competed in the prelims of the 200 meters and ended in 16th place, clocking in with a time of 25.29 seconds.
 
For Bequette, she took part in the heptathlon, competing in four of the scheduled seven events, with the remaining three set for Friday. The senior is 17th after day one of the competition with 2,572 points. She scored a 15.81 second time (16th) in the 100 meter hurdles, adding 738 points to her score. The high jump height reached by Bequette was 1.53 meters (13th), and was good for 655 points.
 
Her other two events were the shot put and 200 meters. In the shot put, Bequette was 17th in the field with a mark of 9.40 meters (490 points), while her 200 meter time was 27.28 seconds, placing 12th and earning her 689 points. The three remaining events on Friday are the long jump, javelin and 800 meters which begin at 11:30 am.
 
The other competition on Friday with a UR competitor is the 400 meters, with Bansbach competing in the preliminary heats at 3:00 pm.