PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester women's track and field team turned in a dominant performance at the annual UR Alumni Invitational at Fauver Stadium on Sunday afternoon, taking home the team title over six other Western New York college teams.
 
The Yellowjackets had ten event wins, 21 total top-3 results, and secured ten AARTFC qualifying marks in front of the River Campus home fans.
 
Overall, the Yellowjackets scored 198.5 points on the day. SUNY Brockport was second with 163.5, with St. Bonaventure ending third at 109 points. Nazareth (83), RIT (64), Roberts Wesleyan (57) and SUNY Geneseo (23) rounded out the field.
 
Juniors Raquella Casserino and Aimee Oszer along with sophomore Lizzie Merrill were double-winners on the day. Casserino and Merrill each won one individual event and one relay, while Oszer captured first place in two individual events in the field.
 
Oszer finished first in the discus with a personal best mark of 43.47 meters, qualifying for regionals, and later won the shot put, hitting a regional mark of 12.19 meters. Her discus mark also was a top-25 distance in Division III this season, ranking #24.
 
On the track, Casserino finished first in the 400 meters in 59.20 seconds, while Merrill won the 200 meters in 25.83 seconds. The two joined together, along with Rita Sciortino and Emily Dill to rank first in the 4x400 meter relay, posting a regional time of 4:04.73.
 
The Yellowjackets had several 1-2 finishes on the day, including in the 3000 meter steeplechase, 1500 meters, 4x400 meter relay and discus.
 
During the steeplechase, a pair of sophomores took the top two spots for URochester. Kara Goldstein finished first with a time of 11:44.67, while Adirana Ochoa crossed the line as the runner-up in 11:47.21. Both were regional qualifiers.
 
Graduate student Molly FitzGibbons was first in the 1500 meters, qualifying for regionals in 4:40.31. Dill ranked second at 4:56.27.
 
Junior Madison Vargas ended runner-up in the discus behind Oszer with a regional toss of 41.39 meters.  Vargas also was third in the shot put behind Vargas, posting a best throw of 11.64 meters.
 
In the 5000 meter distance event, first-year Sam Mermelstein was runner-up in 18:18.70, a time good enough to qualify for the AARTFC meet next month. Maria Khalifeh ended fourth in the same event with a time of 18:55.56.
 
URochester's 'B' relay in the 4x400 meters was Peyton Classer, Maya Hatch, Isabella Doty and CC Leavitt. That group ended with a time of 4:22.49.
 
In the jumps, first-year Lauren Murphy was first with an 11.85 meter distance, good enough to qualify for regionals. Teammate Ashleigh Barrett was third in the triple jump (10.42 meters), but captured first place in the long jump with a mark off 5.46 meters. In the long jump, Anna Johnson ended fourth at 5.38 meters.
 
The javelin saw two UR athletes place second and third, with Katie Atkins and Cassidy Romano holding those positions, respectively. Atkins tossed 27.88 meters, while Romano finished with a distance of 26.67 meters.
 
Oszer also was URochester's top finisher in the hammer throw at 40.95 meters, establishing a new personal-best. In the high jump, senior Nora Dreslin led the 'Jackets with a clearance of 1.39 meters, tying for fourth place.
 
Senior Zoe Noble ran a personal-best time in the 100 meter hurdles, crossing the finish in 17.75 seconds, good for third place.
 
During the 800 meters, UR had four finishers in the top-8, coming in positions four through seven. Classer led the group in 2:25.07, while Doty was right behind in 2:25.40. Katie Punch was sixth at 2:25.57, with Talia Christopher ranking seventh with a personal-best time of 2:26.09.
 
Sciortino added a third place finish in the 400 meters to her win in the relay, setting a PR time of 1:00.63. The senior also hit a PR in the 200 meters, ending seventh in 27.35 seconds. Hatch also competed in the 400 meters, crossing the line in sixth place with a time of 1:03.05. In the 100 meters, junior Toni Adewakun was the top Rochester runner, placing ninth with a time of 13.67 seconds.
 
The meet also saw several alumni competing, with national champion Madeline O'Connell taking first place in the pole vault competition, clearing 3.81 meters.
 
Later on this week, the Yellowjackets are back in action locally, competing at the RIT Friday Night Classic on April 24.