GENEVA, OH – It was an exceptional end to a fabulous season for the University of Rochester women's track and field team, with the Yellowjackets securing six All-America awards across two events on the final day of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
 
Juniors Susan Bansbach and Madeline O'Connell each earned individual honors in the 400 meters, finishing fourth and seventh, respectively. Additionally, the pair, along with senior Eileen Bequette and junior Kristin Hardy made up the 4x400 meter relay squad which ended in sixth place to close out the championship.
 
Bansbach smashed her own school record which she set yesterday in the prelims of the 400 meters, shaving nearly half a second off it again, running to fourth place in Saturday's final, clocking in with a time of 54.48 seconds.
 
The junior had the lead coming out of the last turn, but a trio of strong finishes from Kayla Armstrong, Grace Devanney and Alyssa Pfadenhauer ended up edging out Bansbach for the top-3 spots.
 

O'Connell wasn't far behind the group, clocking in with a 55.67 second time to end in seventh. It was just the fourth time in her career she eclipsed the 56-second mark outdoors.
 
After the podium finishes individually, the pair shifted focus to the relay, in which O'Connell would lead off and Bansbach would anchor. Bequette ran the second leg with Hardy running third.
 
O'Connell got off to a blazing start, much like she did during UR's indoor All-America run earlier this season, giving the Yellowjackets the lead early. After two legs, Rochester was in fifth and then dropped to seventh when a large push from the rest of the field came on strong at the end of leg three. Bansbach took the baton and ran the second fastest spit on the final leg, a 54.19 move up a spot to UR's final placing of sixth.
 
Overall, Rochester's time was 3:44.93, four hundredths of a second quicker than its prelim time from Thursday's opening round.
 
The six All-America honors earned on Saturday push Rochester's total to 29 in the history of women's outdoor track and field. Three of the relay participants, Bansbach, Bequette and Hardy all earned the same award last season outdoors in the relay, with O'Connell joining the group this year. All four were indoor All-Americans earlier this year in the same event.
 
Individually, Bansbach and O'Connell are the first and second All-Americans for UR women's track and field in the 400 meters during the outdoor season.
 
For their careers, encompassing indoor and outdoor seasons, Bansbach now has seven All-America honors, Bequette has five, Hardy has four and O'Connell three.
 
In the team standings, Rochester scored ten total points to rank tied for 29th among 69 teams that recorded at least one point.