HENRIETTA, NY – The University of Rochester women's track & field team picked up a pair of event wins and hit two regional-qualifying marks on Friday evening at the RIT Friday Night Invite at the Gordon Field House.
 
Ellie Ponko was UR's lone individual winner, taking home first place in the 3,000 meters, crossing the finish line with a new personal-best 10:42.81 time. Sabrina Terando and Kat Benninger also scored for the Yellowjackets in the event, finishing fifth (10:59.48) and seventh (11:08.77), respectively.
 
UR then scored its other event win in the final track event of the evening, as Tina Kyriacou, Jael Ernest Fleurant, Emily Salman and Christine Zong ran a 1:53.31 4x200-meter relay, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Le Moyne.
 
In the field events, Deziree Garrick and Alyssa Hoogs hit All-Atlantic Regional qualifying marks, Garrick in the weight throw and Hoogs in the triple jump. Garrick set a new PR with a 15.76m throw to qualify for regionals, while Hoogs jumped 10.93m in the triple jump to qualify as well.
 
Garrick led a trio of Yellowjackets in both throwing events, with Cora Rosa (14.02m, 5th) also notching a PR in the weight throw, while Liv Ilasz finished seventh with a throw of 13.70m. Garrick's throw of 11.43m earned the junior a fourth-place result in the shot put, while Rose finished eighth (11.22m).
 
Elsewhere in the field events, Nora Dreslin led a trio of 'Jackets in the top eight of the high jump, vaulting over the 1.42m bar to finish fifth, while both Trinity Johnson and Lily Hubert succeeded on the 1.32m bar to tie for eighth.
 
Ella Blau and Andie Burton got the Yellowjackets' night started with the 5,000 meters, each setting a new personal best in the event. Blau finished fifth with a season-best 19:52.62 time, while Burton finished right behind the first-year, clocking in at 20:18.47, also a new personal-best time.
 
After winning her heat to qualify for the 60-meter hurdle finals, Zong again scored second place in the finals, setting a new high mark for the season with a time of 10.35s. Both Kyriacou and Ernest Fleurant earned spots in the 60-meter finals, where Kyriacou placed fourth (8.32) and Ernest Fleurant finished eighth (8.46).
 
In the 400 meters, Raquella Casserino set a new season's-best time, coming in second with a time of 1:03.30, while the first-year added another PR in the 200 meters, finishing eighth (28.11).
 
Kyriacou also led UR in the 200 meters, finishing fourth (27.97) with Zong crossing the finish line in 28.05, good for another season's-best time and a sixth-place result, two spots ahead of Casserino.
 
The RIT Friday Night Invite closes out a split-squad day for the Yellowjacket women, who'll next compete at the Nazareth Conference Tune-Up on Friday, Feb. 16 at 4:00 p.m. in their final meet before Liberty Leagues.