CORTLAND, NY – Powered by a pair of first-place finishes in the 4x400-meter relay and the pole vault, the University of Rochester women's track & field team sits in third place following the first day of the All-Atlantic Region Outdoor & Track Field Championships on Wednesday at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.
 
Through eight events, Rochester is in third place with 31 points, 13 points behind SUNY Geneseo in first with 44 points. SUNY Brockport sits in second with 42.5 points, while Rowan (15) and RIT (14) round out the top five teams out of the 29 that scored on the opening day of competition.
 
Rochester's 4x400-meter relay team of Nora Chen, Kate Isaac, Megan Bell and Raquella Casserino picked up the Yellowjackets' first event win of the day, clocking in at 3:47.72 in the third heat to beat out the 16-team field.
 
Shortly thereafter, Madeline O'Connell won the pole vault competition, successfully making it over the 3.78m bar on her third try.
 
UR also added a top-two finish in the 5,000 meters, as Sennett Turner led a pair of 'Jackets finishing in the top five in the field of 33. Turner finished second overall with a time of 17:42.34, while Kat Benninger set a new PR with her sixth-place result and 18:12.36 time. Ellie Ponko added a 25th-place tally in the event, clocking in at 18:50.99.
 
Rochester's distance runners then wrapped up the opening day of competition with the 10,000 meters, with all three UR runners placing in the top 20. Alicia Lawson was the 'Jackets' top finisher, crossing the finish line with a new PR of 39:17.02, good for 10th, while Alyssa Horng came in 17th (40:02.21) and Andie Burton clocked in with a new personal-best time of 40:08.19, placing 18th.
 
Earlier in the afternoon in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, a pair of 'Jackets added top-30 results, with Sab Lin finishing 27th (11:54.00) and Sabrina Terando just behind Lin in 29th (11:56.40).
 
Over in the field events, Liv Ilasz was UR's top finisher in the hammer, setting a new PR with a 46.50m toss, good for 11th place, while Deziree Garrick's 44.75m throw earned the junior 17th place.
 
In the javelin toss, Aimee Oszer's 29.29m throw garnered the first-year a 16th-place result, while both Alyssa Hoogs (22nd, 5.01m) and Ashleigh Barrett (23rd, 4.99m) turned in top-30 leaps in the long jump.
 
In the heptathlon, Julia Largett sits in 16th place with 2,091 points through the first four events of the competition, with the sophomore's best finish coming in the 200 meters, a 9th-place finish and a time of 28.09s.
 
Day two of the 2024 All-Atlantic Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships will start at 10:00 on Thursday, May 16, with Largett getting the Yellowjacket athletes going with the heptathlon long jump at 10:00 a.m.