BIRMINGHAM, AL – The University of Rochester women's track & field team saw a pair of athletes qualify for Saturday's finals in their respective events, and two more set two earn All-America honors with their performances on day one of the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
Juniors Nora Chen and Eva Ciuffetelli earned spots in Saturday's 400-meter and 800-meter finals, respectively, finishing in the top eight of their events. Chen won the fifth heat of the 400 meters and clocked in with a new personal-best time of 55.78 seconds, shaving 0.01 seconds off her previous best, and finishing seventh overall to qualify for the 400-meter final.
 
Chen ran a 25.63-second split over the first 200 meters, and then finished the final 200 meters in 30.16 seconds, leading the entirety of her heat, the fifth and final heat of the 400-meter prelims.
 
In the 800 meters, Ciuffetelli ran in the second heat, finishing fourth with a time of 2:10.99, also a new personal-best time and good for eighth in the prelims. Ciuffetelli's time was 0.08 seconds faster than her previous best, set at last weekend's All-Atlantic Region Indoor Track & Field Championships, and was the sixth-fastest time in the prelims, as the second heat featured both time qualifiers.

Ciuffetelli ran a 31.32-second 200-meter split over the first 200 meters of the heat, but dropped down to fifth with a 33.08-second split over the next 200 meters. However, the junior picked up her pace over the final 200 meters, moving back into fourth with a 32.88-second split over the final 200 meters.
 
Chen also scored United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Second-Team All-America honors in the 60-meter hurdles by virtue of her 16th-place finish. The junior ran in the third heat and clocked in at 8.84 seconds, notching the eighth All-America honor of her career.
 
In the long jump, Lauren Murphy scored her first career USTFCCCA All-America honor, recording a 15th-place finish with a 5.45m leap to earn Second-Team All-America accolades. The first-year jumped in the first flight and hit 5.13m on her first leap, before landing a 5.45m jump on her second and a 5.38m leap on her third.
 
Chen, Ciuffetelli and Murphy will all be back in action for the final day of the 2025-26 NCAA DIII Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Birmingham Crossplex on Saturday, March 14, with the women's triple jump scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m., the women's 400-meter final set for approximately 5:25 p.m., and the women's 800-meter final scheduled for 5:50 p.m.