PITTSFORD, NY – University of Rochester women's track and field opened its 2023-24 indoor season with several high marks at the Nazareth University Alumni Opener on Friday evening at the Golisano Training Center.
 
Madeline O'Connell led Yellowjackets, one of three double-winners for UR, as the senior broke her own school record in the pole vault, almost one year to the day after breaking the record at the same meet. O'Connell's 3.75m mark was good for third in the event, hit the regional-qualifying mark, and currently stands as the best mark in Division III.
 
O'Connell added her second event-win of the night in the 4x400 meter relay, as O'Connell, Nora Chen, Julia Largett and Ashley Heffernan combined to run a 3:58.27 relay, a first-place finish to wrap up the opener and a top-two time in DIII. UR's 4x400 time was also an All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Championships (AARTFC) qualifier.
 
Chen and Heffernan were the 'Jackets' other two multi-event winners, with Chen kicking things off in the first event of the day, securing a win in the 400-meter invite with a time of 59.09, the ninth-best time in Division III.
 
Heffernan scored her first first-place result in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line first in 9.11s, after qualifying with a 9.02s time, a new personal best and time that ranks eighth on the NCAA Division III qualifying list. Both Chen and Hefferman's times also hit the AARTFC qualifying mark.
 
Toni Adewakun added one more event win for the Yellowjackets on the evening, finishing first in the 60-meter open race with a time of 8.49, while Jael Ernest Fleurant rounded out the top five, clocking in at 8.56.
 
Annabelle Shanks led Rochester in the 60-meter invite, qualifying for the finals with a first-place finish in her heat (8.12), before finishing third in the finals with a time of 8.10.
 
Along with O'Connell and Shanks' top-three finishes, Emily Dill scored another third-place result for the Yellowjackets, crossing the finish line in 3.14.04 in the 1,000 meters. Overall, Rochester had three double-winners, four first-place tallies and seven top-three results and hit six AARTFC qualifying marks during their season-opening meet.
 
In the field events, Alyssa Hoogs paced UR in both the long and triple jump scoring an AARTFC-qualifying mark in the triple jump with a 10.91m jump, good for fourth, while finishing ninth in the long jump (5.21). Both marks also rank in the top 35 on the NCAA DIII Indoor Performance List.
 
Deziree Garrick scored another regional qualifier in the weight throw, setting a new pr of 15.61m, a fourth-place tally, and a top-20 mark in Division III, while Liv Ilasz joined Garrick in the top 10 with a 13.89m throw, good for ninth.
 
Cora Rose was the 'Jackets top finisher in the shot put, with a fifth-place throw of 11.58m, while Nora Dreslin and Lily Hubert both scored top-10 finishes in the high jump, both clearing the 1.42m bar, with Dreslin coming in fifth and Hubert eighth.
 
In the mile, Julia Lantner and Riley Joseph both earned top-10 results, with Lantner crossing the finish line in 5:36.47, good for fifth, while Joseph set a new personal best mark with a 10th-place, 5:45.75 finish.
 
Rita Sciortino also added a new personal best, leading the Yellowjackets in the 500 meters with a time of 1:25.89.
 
And in the other relay event of the evening, Tina Kyriacou, Maya Hatch, Raquella Casserino and Abby Seamans ran to a fourth-place result, clocking in at 1:51.84.
 
Following a break for the holidays, the Yellowjackets return to the track on Saturday, Jan. 20, making the short trip to Brockport, NY to open the new year at the SUNY Brockport Winter Invitational at 10:00 a.m.