PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – Led by four event wins from Ashley Heffernan, the University of Rochester women's track & field team finished third out of 13 competing teams at the 2024 University of Rochester Alumni Invitational on Sunday inside Edwin Fauver Stadium on the campus of the University of Rochester.
 
Heffernan's four event wins led the Yellowjackets, who tallied seven All-Atlantic Region Track & Field qualifiers and placed five times on the NCAA Division III Women's Track & Field Outdoor qualifying list.
 
The senior kicked off her day with a first-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay, running the anchor leg of UR's 'B' team to a first-place result. Heffernan, alongside Julia Largett, Alyssa Hoogs and Ashleigh Barrett, clocked in at 50.11s, while the 'A' team of Tina Kyriacou, Maya Hatch, Raquella Casserino and Toni Adewakun finished second with a time of 50.33.
 
Then in the 100-meter hurdles, Heffernan added her second first-place tally, running the 100-meter event in 14.64 seconds, a regional qualifier and the 15th-fastest time in NCAA Division III this season. Largett also added another top-10 finish in the event for UR, clocking in at 17.12s, good for 10th.
 
Heffernan would add one more event win on the track in the 100 meters, hitting a new PR with her 12.09s time, another AARTFC qualifier and the 16th-fastest time in DIII, before adding the final event win in the field events. Two other 'Jackets also joined Heffernan on the podium in the 100 meters, as Nora Chen came in sixth (12.81) and Kyriacou finished eighth (13.01).
 
Heffernan finished the day topping the high jump, successfully jumping over the 1.53m bar to earn first place. Nora Dreslin and Largett also placed in the high jump, tying for seventh place with a 1.33m result.
 
Elsewhere on the track, Rochester also added outdoor qualifying times in the steeplechase, 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles.
 
Kat Benninger opened the Yellowjackets day with the 3,000-meter steeplechase, coming in fifth with a time of 11:29.90, good for sixth, a new personal best, an AARTFC qualifier and currently the 33rd-fastest time in DIII this season.
 
Then in the 400 meters, Megan Bell ran the fourth-fastest time in Division III this season, crossing the finish line in 56.04s, good for second place and another regional qualifier. Casserino joined Bell in the top 10 of the 400 meters, setting a new season-best time of 1:01.48s, good for ninth.
 
Bell also ran the 200 meters for Rochester, coming in fifth with a new PR of 25.83 seconds.
 
In the 400-meter hurdles, Chen notched UR's last top-50 qualifying mark, winning the event with a time of 1:03.46s, the 11th-fastest time in DIII so far this season, and an AARTFC qualifier.
 
UR's 4x400 relay team wrapped up the Yellowjackets' day on the track with their last regional qualifier, as Hatch, Chen, Casserino and Rita Sciortino finished third in the event, clocking in at 4:06.91.
 
In the throwing events, Cora Rose posted Rochester's best finish, placing third in the discus with a throw of 36.81m, while Deziree Garrick scored UR's lone AARTFC mark with a seventh-place throw of 12.01m in the shot put.
 
Victoria Bermeo also scored for the Yellowjackets in the javelin toss, with a 28.15m throw that placed eighth.
 
In the jumping events, Quinn Taylor set a new PR with a 9.41m leap, good for sixth, in the triple jump, while Hoogs and Barrett placed seventh and ninth, respectively in the long jump, with bounds of 5.04m and 4.90m.
 
Overall, Rochester tallied 92 points, good for third, with SUNY Geneseo finishing first on the women's side with 141 points, and RIT In second with 117.
 
Rochester next hits the road for another split-squad weekend, competing at the two-day Princeton University Larry Ellis Invitational on Friday, April 12, and the SUNY Brockport Multi & Invitational on Saturday, April 13.