HENRIETTA, NY – The University of Rochester women's track and field team holds the opening day lead after the conclusion of action at the 2025 Liberty League Outdoor Track and Field Championships at RIT.
 
Rochester as a team compiled a score of 68 points over the six events contested on day one, leading a jam-packed team leaderboard that features second place Ithaca (65 points) and third place RPI (59 points) close behind.
 
UR had two event winners on Friday, three more top-3 results and had 14 podium finishes. In addition, the Yellowjackets piled up a whopping 17 All-Atlantic Regional qualifying marks.
 
Cora Rose and Aimee Oszer earned the Rochester wins, both coming in throwing events. Rose won the hammer throw with a huge personal-best throw of 49.95 meters, while Oszer hit a PR and facility record of 38.22 meters in the javelin. Both were regional qualifiers and scored ten points for UR's team score.
 
In the hammer, three other finishers made the podium, with Zoe Chafouleas ranking sixth (43.82 meters), Deziree Garrick finishing seventh (43.50 meters) and Liv Ilasz placing eighth (42.73 meters).
 
During the two finals on the track during day one, Rochester had five AARTFC times and four top-8 results. Sab Lin finished third in the steeplechase with a time of 11:21.64.
 
In the 10,000 meters, Ella Blau matched Lin in third, crossing the finish in 38:46.02. Teammate Alicia Lawson was fourth (38:48.84) and Alyssa Horng was scored in sixth, earning a big personal-best time of 39:08.91. Andie Burton also hit a regional time, finishing tenth in 40:29.93.
 
UR's long jump group had three podium finishers, led by Ashleigh Barrett in third. She jumped 5.46 meters, edging out teammate Grace McInerney in fourth (5.42 meters). Anna Johnson secured sixth place with a leap of 5.27 meters.
 
Also in the field, Abby Kopeck claimed fourth place in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.43 meters, while Katie Atkins ranked sixth, clearing 2.98 meters in the event.
 
The rest of the action on the day were preliminary heats ahead of Saturday's finals.
 
Senior Megan Bell was the top qualifier in both the 400 meters and 800 meters, running times of 56.75 seconds and 2:16.24, respectively. Bell's time in the 400 meters was a new facility record, with both being AARTFC times.
 
Bell led a 1-2-3 finish in the 400 meter prelims, as Nora Chen qualified second in 57.20 seconds, with Raquella Casserino crossing third on Friday in a personal-best time of 57.90 seconds.
 
Casserino had a solid day, also earning a personal-best time in the 200 meter prelims, crossing the finish in 25.62 seconds, sixth fastest. Both her times during Friday's action were regional qualifiers.
 
In the 800 meters, behind Bell, both Rita Sciortino (3rd) and Emily Dill (7th), were fast enough to qualify for the Saturday finals. Sciortino finished in 2:17. 31, a new PR, while Dill also hit a PR, running a time of 2:18.61.
 
Chen and teammate Eva Ciuffetelli were the top two qualifiers in the 400 meter hurdles event. Chen crossed the finish in 1:02.94, while Ciuffetelli ended at 1:03.17.
 
During the 100 meters, UR's Lizzie Merrill just missed a spot in the finals, ending 9th in a season-best time of 12.80 seconds. Merrill also finished 12th in the 200 meters (26.11 seconds) in another season-best time.
 
Rochester also had three entries in the heptathlon, with day one featuring four events. Julia Largett leads that group with 2,090 points, while Julie Durham scored 1,932 points and McInerney has 1,652 points. Day two in the seven-event competition features the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.