CANTON, NY – Seniors Madeline O'Connell and Ashley Heffernan highlighted day one of competition for the University of Rochester women's track and field team at the Liberty League Indoor Track and Field Championships being held at St. Lawrence University's Newell Field House.
 
O'Connell ended Friday's day one as a 2-time champion, capturing titles in the pole vault and 400 meters, both in record breaking fashion. Heffernan's win came in the long jump.
 
The senior O'Connell started her day by becoming the first female pole vaulter in school history to ever break the 4-meter barrier, finishing first with a 4.10 meter height during the competition. That mark broke her own school record of 3.95 meters that was set earlier this year. O'Connell now ranks atop the Division III performance list and cracked the top-10 all-time in Division III history with her height. Her result from Friday also an All-Atlantic Regional qualifying mark.
 
O'Connell also had two events on the track during the opening day at the conference meet. The senior led three 'Jackets in the top-4 of the 400 meters, crossing the finish in 56.20 seconds. Her time ended up being a new facility and meet record, an indoor personal-best and AARTFC time. The finish also is now the number three performance in Division III this season.
 
Joining O'Connell on the podium in the 400 meter event was first-year Nora Chen in third and junior Megan Bell in fourth. Chen finished in 58.50 seconds, while Bell crossed the stripe in 58.81 seconds.
 
The busy day for O'Connell on Friday also saw her compete in the 60 meter dash preliminary heats. O'Connell ended third and qualified for Saturday's final with a 7.94 second sprint. Teammate Ashley Heffernan had the top prelim time, finishing in 7.92 seconds, with both of UR's times earning regional spots at the AARTFC championships.
 
Heffernan also was Rochester's top running in the 60 meter hurdle preliminary heats on Friday. The senior crossed the finish in 9.24 seconds, another regional qualifier to have the second fastest time in the first round. Chen also booked a spot into the finals by virtue of her 9.63 second prelim time, eighth quickest on Friday.
 
Heffernan also performed well in the long jump event, finishing as event champion with a 5.58 meter leap, eclipsing the AARTFC qualifying standard. Alyssa Hoogs ranked seventh in the event, posting a 5.02 meter mark.
 
Also in the field, UR's shot put group of Deziree Garrick, Cora Rose and Aimee Oszer scored top-8 results and each earned regional qualifying marks. Garrick finished runner-up with a 12.34 meter toss, Rose was fourth with a 12.21 meter mark and Oszer finished fifth with her toss of 11.72 meters. Both Garrick's and Oszer's results were new personal-bests.
 
During the 5000 meters, UR senior Sennett Turner finished in third with a time of 18:20.00, an AARTFC qualifier. Teammate Sabrina Terando ended in eight place, clocking in with a result of 19:05.23.
 
Sophomore Julia Largett was UR's only entry in the five-event pentathlon on Friday. Largett posted a score of 2,738 points to finish fourth in the competition. She closed her day strong, securing second place in the long jump (4.76 meters) and finishing first among the multi-event athletes in the 800 meters at 2:26.55, a new personal best. Largett also scored an 8.54 meter mark in the shot put, 10.21 second run in the 60 meter hurdles and 1.29 meter height in the high jump.
 
Wrapping up day one of competition was Rochester's third place distance medley relay squad of Emily Dill, Rita Sciortino, Sab Lin and Ellie Ponko. The quartet teamed for a 12:56.77 time, booking a spot at regionals.
 
Through the eight scored events in the meet, Rochester sits in first place among the eight schools with 78 team points. UR is neck-and-neck with second place Ithaca who has 74 points. RIT is third with 57 points and Vassar sits fourth with 36 team points.