BROCKPORT, NY – The University of Rochester women's track & field team compiled eight first-place finishes, 19 top-three results and 12 All-Atlantic Region (AARTFC) Outdoor qualifiers on day one of the SUNY Brockport Multi & Invitational on Sunday at Shriver Stadium.
 
The Yellowjackets earned five event wins in the track events, with another three coming in the field events. Nora Chen was Rochester's lone multi-winner, earning wins in the 200 meters, 400 meters and 4x400-meter relay.
 
Chen opened her day with a first-place finish and 56.41-second time in the 400 meters, beating out 20 other runners. Chen's time was good for an AARTFC qualifier, one of three for the junior on the day, and currently ranks 19th on the NCAA Division III Outdoor Qualifying List.
 
Chen then topped the field in the 200 meters, as Rochester runners went 1-2-3 in the event. Chen took first with a time of 25.24 seconds, while Lizzie Merrill placed second, clocking in at 25.65 seconds, and Raquella Casserino finished third at 25.88 seconds. Both Chen and Merrill's times hit the regional-qualifying mark, while Merrill's was also a new personal best.
 
The junior then wrapped up her day on the track with the 4x400-meter relay, combining with Isabella Doty, Julie Durham and Maya Hatch for a first-place finish and time of 4:07.93, another AARTFC qualifier. While UR's 'B' relay of Peyton Classer, Eva Ciuffetelli, Katie Punch and Merrill crossed the finish line in fourth place with a time of 4:13.56.
 
Sam Mermelstein earned Rochester's next win on the track in the 800 meters, topping the field of 55. Mermelstein crossed the finish line in 2:24.69, while Maria Khalifeh came in eighth with a time of 2:24.69.
 
Mermelstein and Khalifeh were also the Yellowjackets' top finishers in the 1,500 meters, while Khalifeh placing third with a time of 4:57.92, beating out 82 runners, while Mermelstein came in fifth with a time of 4:59.00.
 
Eva Ciuffetelli notched URochester's final first-place finish on the track, taking home the top spot in the 400-meter hurdles. Ciuffetelli's first-place time of 1:04.46 was good for an AARTFC qualifier and ranks 45th on the DIII Outdoor Qualifying List.
 
In the field events, Madison Vargas won the hammer throw invite title, netting the top spot with a 51.24m toss, a new personal-best hammer throw, an AARTFC qualifier and the 22nd-best hammer throw so far in DIII this season. Aimee Oszer and Cassidy Romano also took home top-10 finishes in the hammer throw open, with Oszer placing second (39.25m) and Romano taking ninth (32.40m).
 
In the discus, Oszer notched the top result with a 42.41m first-place toss, while Vargas finished right behind her in second with a 41.21m throw. Both Oszer and Vargas' discus throws hit the regional-qualifying mark as well.
 
Rochester's final first-place finish came in the long jump, where Lauren Murphy led a trio of Yellowjackets in the top three. Murphy finished first with a 5.69m leap, while Ashleigh Barrett's 5.52m jump was good for second, and Anna Johnson finished third with a 5.37m jump. In addition, Sadie Omilian placed 10th to make it four 'Jackets in the top 10 of the long jump with a 4.93m leap.
 
Murphy, Barrett and Johnson's long jumps are were AARTFC qualifiers, while Johnson's was a new, outdoor PR. Murphy and Barrett's jumps also placed on the outdoor qualifying list, with Murphy's ranking 13th, and Barrett's 31st.
 
Elsewhere in the field events, Vargas and Oszer finished second and third in the shot put, with Vargas' 12.16m shot put hitting the regional-qualifying mark, while Oszer came in third with an 11.93m throw.
 
In the javelin toss, Katie Atkins led Rochester with a second-place result and 32.34m throw, a new PR, while Romano came in ninth with a 30.03m toss.
 
Lily Hubert (4th, 1.45m) and Nora Dreslin (6th, 1.45m) both earned top-eight results in the high jump, with Hubert setting a new PR, while Ellerie Finger was Rochester's top finisher in the triple jump with a 9.54m jump, good for 12th.
 

Back on the track in the 100-meter hurdles, Zoe Noble paced the Yellowjackets with an 11th-place finish, clocking in with a new personal-best time of 17.85 seconds. In the 100 meters, Merrill came in second in the 34-runner field with a time of 12.70 seconds, while Casserino came in fourth, crossing the finish line in 12.910 seconds.
 
Kara Goldstein and Adriana Ochoa both earned top-eight results in the 5,000 meters, with Goldstein coming in fourth with a time of 19:05.74, while Ochoa set a new personal-best time with her 19:51.78 time, good for eighth.
 
Through four contested events of the heptathlon, three 'Jackets rank in the top eight of the field, with Cassie Ward in third, Grace McInerney in fourth and Julia Largett in seventh. Ward has tallied 2,130 points, 194 points back of the top spot, while McInerney has accumulated 2,096 points, 228 points back, and Largett has 1,883 points in seventh.
 
Ward turned in her best result of day one in the 200 meters, wrapping up the first four events with a time of 27.20 seconds to earn 695 points. Ward began the heptathlon with a sixth-place result (17.80s) in the 100-meter hurdles, and then finished fifth (1.40m) and fourth (8.22m), in the high jump and shot put, respectively.
 
McInerney opened the heptathlon with a third-place finish and a new PR in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking in at 17.57 seconds. Then after a seventh-place finish (1.34m) in the high jump, McInerney won the heptathlon shot put with an 8.44 throw, and then placed third in the 200 meters with a 27.32-second time.
 
Largett's best finish came in the 100-meter hurdles, a fifth-place finish and time of 17.76 seconds to earn 513 points, while the senior also added a fifth-place result (7.74m) in the shot put. Largett also placed ninth in the high jump (1.31m) and sixth in the 200 meters (5.68m).
 
URochester's multis will be back in action to wrap up the heptathlon on day two of the SUNY Brockport Multi & Invitational in Brockport, NY, on Monday, April 13 at 12:00 p.m.