POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – It was a strong first day of action at the Liberty League Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the 9th-ranked University of Rochester women's track and field team, as the Yellowjackets boasted 18 All-Atlantic Regional qualifying performances and sit in second place in the team standings.
 
Overall, six of the 21 overall events in the meet were finals on day one, with Rochester accumulating 52 team points in those events. UR sits behind Ithaca (79 points), but ranks ahead of third place St. Lawrence (44) and fourth place RPI (42). Eight total teams are competing.
 
Several other individuals on Friday also competed in preliminary heats in their events, with those event finals being run on Saturday.
 
Among the event finals, UR had two third place results, coming from senior Eileen Bequette in the javelin and junior Madeline O'Connell in the pole vault. Bequette posted a regional qualifier with her mark of 36.42 meters, while O'Connell cleared 3.46 meters in her event, matching what teammate Ashley Heffernan (fourth place) did. Both were also regional performances.
 
Bequette had a busy day, as she also competed in the long jump, 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles, earning AAR performances in each event. The long jump final saw the senior rank fourth with a big personal best jump of 5.42 meters. In the 100 meter hurdles she qualified fourth with a time of 15.47 seconds and her prelim time of 1:07.07 in the 400 hurdles was second best.
 

Rochester had four regional qualifiers in the 10000 meters to close out day one's competition. Sennett Turner led the group with a fifth place result in 39:25.60. Icel Sukovaty placed sixth in 39:32.79, while Ella Wise Bellin ended eighth in 39:48.10. Alicia Lawson didn't score for her ninth place finish, but broke the AAR standard with her time of 40:01.42.
 
Other regional qualifying performances in finals on Friday came from Gillian Reeder in the hammer throw, with a fourth place toss of 43.69 meters, and Alyssa Hoogs in the long jump, as she cleared 5.28 meters, finishing sixth. Kat Benninger also finished fourth in the 3000 meter steeplechase, posting an AAR time of 11:49.25.
 
Reeder also scored a sixth place result in the javelin (31.45 meters). Joining her in scoring points for the Yellowjackets were hammer throwers Vanessa Wish and Abbey Gilman. Wish was fifth in the event with a mark of 41.86 meters, while Gilman placed eighth with her toss of 39.01 meters. Sab Lin added a point to UR's team total with an eighth place result in the steeplechase (12:10.90).
 
Heffernan, in addition to her pole vault regional performance, added two more AAR qualifiers to her haul in the prelims of the 100 meters and 100 meter hurdles. In the 100 meters, she had the top prelim time of 12.48 seconds, while her 100 meter hurdle time was 14.83 seconds, second quickest on the day.
 
Susan Bansbach qualified for three finals in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 800 meters. Her 800 meter time was 2:20.64, a regional meet performance. Teammate Lisa Pink also is headed to regionals in the 800, clocking in with a time of 2:19.92, also reaching Saturday's final.
 
O'Connell, Kristin Hardy and Kate Isaac each finished in the prelims top-8 twice on Friday and will run in finals tomorrow. Each of them qualified for the 200 meter finals. O'Connell also notched an AAR qualifier in the 400 meters, running 59.19 seconds to place second in the prelims. Hardy will join her in the finals of the 400 meters, along with Alexis Aboagye, while Isaac's second finals run will be in the 100 meters.
 
UR's last finals qualifier of the day was Madeleline Vogel in the 400 meters. She will be seeded fourth in the 400 meter hurdle final on Saturday after she posted a prelim time of 1:08.25.
 
After four events in the heptathlon, Iva Savic currently sits in fifth place for the Yellowjackets with 1,951 points. She was third among the heptathletes in the high jump, fourth in the shot put and 200 meters and fifth in the 100 meter hurdles.
 
Action begins on Saturday at 10:30 am at Vassar College.