TOWSON, MD – The University of Rochester women's track & field team kicked off its outdoor season at the Towson University Invitational on Friday inside Johnny Unitas Stadium.
 
Nora Chen got UR's outdoor campaign started in the track events, finishing second in the 400-meter hurdles. Chen's time of 1:06.32 was the fastest among collegiate participants, currently ranks among the Top 25 in NCAA Division III and qualifies the first-year for the All-Atlantic Region Outdoor Championships (AARTFC) in April.
 
The Yellowjackets scored a total of six AARTFC performances on the day, with two, including Chen's coming on the track. In the 400 meters, Megan Bell also finished second with a time of 57.78, a top-10 time in Division III and a regional qualifier. And in the 5,000 meters, Sennett Turner won competition with a new PR and top-10 mark in DIII (17:36.77), while Ellie Ponko (6th, 18:48.23) and Alicia Lawson (7th, 18:48.85) also finished in the top 10 with sub-19 minute times.
 
In the field events, Rochester added three more regional qualifiers: Deziree Garrick in the shot put, Alyssa Hoogs in the triple jump and Cora Rose in the discus. Hoogs' 10.98m leap in the triple jump placed the senior seventh, while Garrick scored sixth with an 11.72m throw.
 
Rose also placed in the top 10 of the shot put with an 11.41m throw, while her 38.40m throw in the discus was good for ninth and hit the AARTFC mark.
 
Also in the field events, Liv Illasz paced UR with an 11th-place finish and a 42.32m throw in the hammer throw with Rose a spot behind with a 40.76m toss, while Nora Dreslin tied for 12th in the high jump at 1.40m.
 
In the 3000-meter steeplechase, Sabrina Terando added another top-three result to UR's tally, placing third with a time of 12:30.78. While in the 800 meters, Emily Dill added a top-10 finish, crossing the finish line in 2:26.49.
 
Three Yellowjackets also hit new PRs in the track events, the first of which came in the 1,500 meters. Sab Lin ran to a fourth-place finish in the 1,500 meters, clocking in with a new PR of 4:59.46. Next up in the 100-meter hurdle prelims, Julia Largett scored a new personal-best time of 17.03s, good for 11th, while Tina Kyriacou hit a new personal-best time in the 200 meters, crossing the finish line in 27.18 seconds, just ahead of Raquella Casserino, who turned in a nearly identical time.
 
Casserino and Kyriacou also ran in the 100-meter prelims, with Casserino finishing 33rd (12.98) and Kyriacou placing 34th (13.01).
 
The Yellowjackets are next in action on Saturday, March 30 when they wrap up their season-opening, split-squad weekend at the SUNY Geneseo Early Season Invite beginning at 10:00 a.m.