GENEVA, OH – It was stellar finish to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the University of Rochester women's track and field team, as two individuals and one relay claimed First Team All-America honors at the Spire Institute.
 
Senior Megan Bell finished as national runner-up in the 800 meters, sophomore Nora Chen claimed fourth place in the 400 meter hurdles and Rochester's 4x400 meter relay of Bell, Chen, Raquella Casserino and Eva Ciuffetelli earned eighth place, closing out the 2024-25 athletic season.
 
In the 800 meters, Bell was edged at the line for the Division III crown by Elizabethtown's Kelty Oaster who finished in 2:09.09, just two hundredths of a second ahead of Bell's time of 2:05.11. Oaster completed the double in the 2024-25 season, also claiming the indoor 800 meter title, with Bell finishing third in that race.
 
The UR seniors time established a new school record, breaking her own previous record of 2:05.34 that was used to qualify for the national meet. That time keeps Bell ranked seventh all-time in Division III history.
 

Less than a half hour after Bell finished her individual race, Chen posted another Rochester school record in earning her first career individual podium finish at the NCAA Championships. Chen's time in the 400 meter hurdles was 1:00.21, shaving nearly two-tenths of a second off her previous record of 1:00.40, set earlier this month at the St. John Fisher Last Chance Meet.
 
Closing out the meet, the team of Casserino, Chen, Ciuffetelli and Bell finished the 4x400 meter relay in 3:47.44, ranking eighth in the finals heat of nine teams to secure the third podium finish of the afternoon.
 
On the day, Rochester scored 14 team points, eight from Bell, five from Chen and one from the relay, to rank in a tie for 17th among 80 teams that scored in the competition. UR's top-20 finish is the second straight for the program, as the women's track and field team finished tied for 11th at the 2024 meet.
 
The 2025 team result is the fourth best in school history for the Rochester women at the outdoor track and field championships.
 
Bell's two All-America awards close out the seniors career, moving her total to ten over her four years, all of which were First Team honors. Chen earns her fifth and sixth All-American awards, while Casserino and Ciuffetelli each earn their second, both coming on the relay during the 2024-25 indoor and outdoor seasons.