PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester women's track and field team used a strong finish, capturing wins in two of the final three events contested, to rally for the team title at the 2023 Liberty League Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
UR edged out Ithaca by less than four points, winning 223.5 to 220, capturing the programs second straight outdoor title, and third overall within the Liberty League. The 2023 season is a clean sweep for the Yellowjackets in the conference, as Rochester also claimed a narrow win indoors this winter.
 
Rounding out the field in the team event was RPI (96 points) in third, St. Lawrence (82.5) in fourth, RIT (78) and Vassar (78) in fifth, followed by Union (39) and Bard (1).
 
Senior sprinter Susan Bansbach was named the Liberty League Track Performer of the Meet for her efforts on the track, being a part of four wins on the day. She helped UR's 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay to wins and added individual championships in the 200 meters and 400 meters.
 
Rochester as a team claimed eight Liberty League titles on the day, none bigger than the 4x400 meter relay and discus titles which secured big points late in the day to help the Yellowjackets rally on the team scoreboard. UR's Cora Rose won the discus with a 39.97 meter toss, and that, coupled with Gillian Reeder's fourth place finish added 15 points to UR's total.
 

Back in the stadium, Rochester's 4x400 meter relay squad of Madeline O'Connell, Megan Bell, Kristin Hardy and Bansbach cruised to a win in that event, winning by a whopping 16 seconds, securing a new meet record in the process, crossing the finish in 3:48.75.
 
Early in the day, the quartet of Kate Isaac, Bansbach, Ashley Heffernan and O'Connell got the Yellowjackets out of the gate quick with a new school record in the 4x100 meter relay. Rochester's winning time was 47.27 seconds and established a new Fauver Stadium, Liberty League and meet record in the process. That group also now is #12 on the Division III performance list this season.
 
Individually, Bansbach also set new school, stadium, conference and meet records in the 200 meter final, leading Rochester to a 1-2-3-4 sweep on the podium. Bansbach's time was 24.59 seconds, breaking the old mark set by Michelle Mazurik back in 1986.
 
Joining Bansbach in the event was runner-up O'Connell (24.61), third place Isaac (25.21) and fourth place Hardy (25.36). Bansbach's time currently ranks 15th in the country, while O'Connell was just shy of that at the finish, and is ranked #16 on the Division III performance list.
 
The Yellowjackets were equally dominant in the 400 meters, taking the top three positions on the podium. Bansbach was first in 55.47 seconds and was followed by Bell and Hardy in second and third. Bell crossed the finish in 56.36, the current #13 time in Division III, while Hardy was at 56.99 seconds, ranking #27 in Division III. Both Bell and Hardy's marks were new personal-bests.
 
In the 100 meter finals, UR earned the top two finishers, with O'Connell claiming the title in 12.21 seconds. Isaac was right behind in second, crossing the stripe in 12.42 seconds. The two runners set new PR's and books trips to the All-Atlantic Regional meet in a few weeks. Teammate Annabelle Shanks also secured a point for the Yellowjackets, finishing eighth.
 
Bell also secured multiple wins on the day for the Yellowjackets, winning the 400 meter hurdles title in a time of 1:03.18, sitting inside the top-20 in Division III.
 
After a strong opening day on Friday, Heffernan finished off a tremendous effort in the heptathlon, setting new personal-bests in five of the seven events contested to score 4,642 points, a season-best and current #7 score in Division III. Heffernan led the multi-event athletes in the long jump (5.53m) and 800 meters (2:24.93), helping lift her to the victory.
 
Iva Savic placed fourth in the heptathlon with 3,674 points, while Julia Largett just missed the podium, placing ninth.
 
Heffernan added a third place individual finish during the 100 meter hurdles competition, clocking in with a 14.62 second time in the finals.
 
In the day two field events, in addition to Rose's win in the discus, Rochester athletes secured five other top-8 placements.
 
Both Deziree Garrick and Alyssa Hoogs ended in second place, earning runner-up finishes in the shot put and triple jump, respectively. Garrick's toss of 12.14 meters in the shot put was a new personal-record and qualified her to regionals. Hoogs also hit the AARTFC mark and tied her career-best with a 11.27 meter jump.
 
Joining the pair on the podium were Rose in the shot put (6th, 11.79m) and Zoe Fortin in the triple jump (8th, 10.68m). Trinity Johnson added an eighth place result in the high jump, clearing 1.38 meters.
 
Sennett Turner placed 10th in the 5000 meters, but eclipsed the regional standard in the event, running a time of 18:40.59. Carissa Minarovich earned another point towards UR's team score in the 800 meters, finishing eighth in 2:27.83.