VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – For the second straight day, the University of Rochester women's track and field team claimed a national title, as the UR 4x400 meter relay team won its second straight crown at the 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
 
Rochester's relay squad of seniors Madeline O'Connell and Ashley Heffernan, first-year Nora Chen and junior Megan Bell capped off a terrific effort over the two-day competition, running to a first place finish in the final event of the meet.
 
UR's team posted a time of 3:45.21, ranking fourth all-time in Division III women's indoor track history, with one of the three times in front of Saturday's effort being that of UR's relay champion team from 2022-23 that set the Division III indoor national record.
 
Also on Saturday, UR piled up two other podium finishes individually, as O'Connell finished fourth in the 400 meters and Bell ended sixth in the 800 meters. Together with points from Friday, the Yellowjacket women secured a fourth place team trophy by scoring 32 points over the two days.
 
That team point total is the most ever by a Rochester women's track and field squad at the indoor meet and aided the Yellowjackets in finishing fourth among 66 teams that scored in the competition. The finish ranks as the second best finish in team history at an NCAA track and field competition, trailing only the runner-up team from the 1988-89 indoor campaign.
 
Much like last season's relay title, the title-winning group had to wait out a second heat of the event, as Rochester was in heat one during the final. UR's relay got out to the early lead thanks to a lightning quick leg of 55.80 seconds from O'Connell over the opening two laps.
 
Heffernan got the baton next and dashed to another solid time of 56.20 seconds, maintaining UR's lead. The rookie of the bunch, Chen was up next. She did not run like a first-year though, running to a split time of 57.36 seconds to keep the Yellowjackets in first place.
 

With only one leg to go, Chen and Bell had a minor mix up on the final baton exchange, but stayed within the relay box keeping UR's time legal. Bell took off from there, sprinting to Rochester's top split time of the race in 55.86 seconds, leading to the event win.
 
In heat two, Washington University in St. Louis led their heat wire-to-wire, but couldn't match Rochester's time giving the Yellowjackets the national title with their 3:45.21 time.
 
UR's relay qualified as the fourth fastest team from Friday's prelims, with that team consisting of O'Connell, senior Kate Isaac, Chen and Bell running a 3:50.56 time. Three of those runners, O'Connell, Isaac and Bell were a part of UR's national title winning relay last season.
 
Earlier in the day, O'Connell set a new Rochester indoor school record in capturing fourth place in the 400 meter finals. The senior ran 55.42 seconds to rank second in her heat behind eventual champion Kenadee Wayt of Mount Union.
 
O'Connell's time breaks the old UR mark of 55.68 seconds that was set by Susan Bansbach in her fourth place finish in the same event at last seasons NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
The senior's weekend also was highlighted as she claimed the pole vault national title in school history during Friday's action.
 
Bell also had a remarkable weekend, earning her first career individual All-America award by finishing in sixth during a tough 800 meter race. The race winner ended up setting a new Division III record in the event, with positions two through six being separated by less than one second.
 
The UR junior clocked in with a time of 2:10.68 in the final, just a shade off of her own school record that she set during Friday's prelim heats.