MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The University of Rochester women's track and field team saw a pair earn All-America honors as well as a heat win to qualify for Saturday's 4x400-meter relay final on the first day of the 2024 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships started with a pair of All-America honors Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
 
Madeline O'Connell opened the Yellowjackets' day with the first of UR's two All-America honors on day one, placing fourth in the pole vault, surpassing the 3.86m bar. After passing at 3.41m, the senior successfully made it over the next four heights on her first attempt, before needing a second at 3.86m to complete a successful vault.
 
Down to the final six competitors, O'Connell then missed on all three attempts at 3.91m to place fourth and secure her ninth All-America honor.
 
Just a few hours later, Nora Chen secured Rochester's second All-America accolade of the opening day of competition, clocking in at 1:02.06 in the 400-meter hurdles, good for fourth in her heat and ninth overall, one spot shy of qualifying for Saturday's final, but good enough for Second-Team All-America honors, the first-year's first individual All-America honor.
 
In Rochester's last final of the opening day of competition, Ashley Heffernan placed 22nd in the long jump with a leap of 5.21m, securing her best leap on the first attempt.
 
Heffernan began the first day of NCAAs with the heptathlon and sits in 15th place with 2,807 points through the first four events of the competition, with the final three set for Friday. The senior opened the seven-event competition with the 100-meter hurdles, placing ninth with a time of 14.85s.
 
In the heptathlon high jump, Heffernan placed 20th, surpassing the 1.48m bar, while in the shot put, Heffernan's 8.90m throw was good for 22nd. Heffernan wrapped up the first four events of the heptathlon with her best finish, crossing the finish line in 24.99s in the 200 meters to secure third place and move up to 15th place heading into the final three events on Friday.
 
O'Connell, Kate Isaac, Chen and Megan Bell wrapped up UR's day with the 4x400-meter relay qualifiers, as UR's relay, the reigning indoor champs, won their heat to qualify for Saturday's finale. O'Connell, Isaac, Chen and Bell combined to run a 3:45.43, a new season-best time and the third-best time among the eight qualifiers for Saturday's final.
 
O'Connell led off the relay for Rochester with Isaac running the second leg, combining to run the second-fastest 800 meters in the second heat, before Chen and Bell each ran sub-58.0 splits, Chen running her 400 meters in 57.56 and Bell wrapping up the relay 55.85 to earn the top spot in the heat and an automatic qualifier to the 4x400-meter relay final on Saturday.
 
In the team scores, through the first five events of the NCAA Championships, Rochester sits tied for 15th with four other teams with five points, with MIT leading the field of 37 scoring teams with 16 points.
 
Heffernan will get the Yellowjackets started on day two of the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championship on Friday, May 24 with the heptathlon long jump at 1:30 p.m., with O'Connell and Bell slated to run the prelims of the 400 and 800 meters at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.