SELINSGROVE, PA – An outstanding day one of the All-Atlantic Regional Track & Field Championships by the University of Rochester women's track and field sees the Yellowjackets sitting atop the team standings after piling up three wins at Susquehanna University's Doug Arthur Stadium.
 
Rochester's women swept both relays on Wednesday, while senior Madeline O'Connell added an individual win in the pole vault. The Yellowjackets added scoring finishes in the discus and long jump as well to accumulate 38 points on day one, ranking first among 34 teams. Overall, 59 total teams have entries in the competition.
 
The day started off with a bang, as the UR 4x100 meter relay team of Kate Isaac, Susan Bansbach, Ashley Heffernan and O'Connell set a new Rochester, AARTFC meet and facility record of 46.69 seconds. The group broke their own UR record which was set last year by a whopping .58 seconds and are now ranked #9 in Division III this season.
 
Later in the day, UR's other relay, the 4x400 meter team of Isaac, Kristin Hardy, Megan Bell and Bansbach earned another win, running 3:45.34. That time is third best in the country, but was just shy the school record as Rochester's #2 Division III time was set a couple weeks ago at the St. John Fisher Cardinal Classic.
 

After the relay win, O'Connell picked up her individual win in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.85 meters, establishing a new facility record in the process. After passing until 3.55 meters, O'Connell cleared on her first attempt. At 3.75 meters, the senior clipped the bar first, but went over on her second try.
 
With three jumpers remaining at 3.85 meters, O'Connell was the only one to clear it, earning the win, needing just one attempt to secure that mark. She bowed out at 3.95 meters by failing to hit the height in each of the three attempts.
 
Sophomore Cora Rose set a new personal-best mark in the discus, tossing 42.19 meters, ending third in the event and scoring six points for the team. Her distance is top-40 in Division III this season and is the best toss by a Yellowjacket in 2023. Teammate Gillian Reeder ended 13th with a 37.42 meter distance.
 
First-year Ashleigh Barrett added another two points to UR's total with a seventh place finish in the long jump. She cleared 5.44 meters. Senior Alyssa Hoogs also competed in the long jump and was 21st, earning a mark of 5.06 meters.
 
During the 100 meter hurdle prelims, junior Ashley Heffernan snagged the eighth and final qualifying spot for the Thursday finals by running a time of 14.89 seconds on Wednesday.
 
Five Yellowjackets competed in the distance races to finish off day one of competition.
 
Kat Benninger was 16th in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at 11:57.10, with teammate Sab Lin ranking 22nd in the same event, crossing the finish in 12:21.57.
 
Rochester's runners in the 10,000 meters were Morgan Bremer, Alicia Lawson and Rachel Dennis. Bremer was 15th in 39:35.75, Lawson hit a personal-record of 39:44.45, good for 18th, and Dennis wound up in 22nd, crossing the finish in 40:13.21.
 
After four events in the seven-event heptathlon, senior Iva Savic is in 15th place with a score of 2,095 points. She hit a new personal-best in the high jump, clearing 1.46 meters, earning 577 points toward her total. The highest scoring event on Wednesday for the senior was the 100 meter hurdles, where she scored 616 points with a 16.83 second run.