COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The University of Rochester women's track & field team sits in first place through eight events after day one of the All-Atlantic Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Ursinus College, on Wednesday at the Floy Lewis Bakes Center and Patterson Field.
 
The Yellowjackets scored in four different events and sit atop the leaderboard with 30 points, six points shy of Misericordia in second place. Nazareth rounds out the top three teams with 23.66 points, with 32 teams so far having scored through the first eight regional events.
 
Molly FitzGibbons notched the Yellowjackets' lone event win of the day, topping the 5,000-meter field of 37 runners with a first-place time of 17:19.11, a new PR. Sam Mermelstein also competed in the 5,000 meters for URochester, clocking in at 18:19.12, good for 19th.
 
The Yellowjackets added another top-three finish in the 4x400-meter relay, where Raquella Casserino, Eva Ciuffetelli, Lizzie Merrill and Nora Chen combined for a time of 3:47.40, good for second place in the relay and 16th on the NCAA Division III Outdoor Qualifying List.
 
Earlier in the day, Chen also qualified for Thursday's 100-meter hurdle finals, earning a spot with her fifth-place finish and 14.37-second time.
 
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Kara Goldstein finished inside the top 10, crossing the finish line in ninth place with a time of 12:13.26, while Adriana Ochoa placed 14th with a time of 12:13.26.
 
Ella Blau and Alyssa Horng wrapped Rochester's day on the track with the 10,000 meters, adding 11 more points to the 'Jackets' team tally with third and fourth-place finishes. Blau led the pair with a third-place finish and time of 37:44.17, with Horng right behind her in fourth place with a time of 38:02.48.
 
Madison Vargas earned Rochester's top finish in the field events, placing eighth with a throw of 49.60m in the hammer throw. In the long jump, Anna Johnson paced a trio of Yellowjackets with a ninth-place result and 5.51m leap, a new personal best, while Ashleigh Barrett finished right behind Johnson in 10th with a 5.43m jump, and Lauren Murphy placed 12th with a 5.38m leap.
 
Through four events in the heptathlon, Grace McInerney sits in 16th-place with 1,372 points. The sophomore earned her best finish in the 200 meters, sixth with a time of 27.02 seconds, to score 710 points, and also came in 13th in the shot put (7.90m) and 16th in the 100-meter hurdles (20.41s).
 
Rochester will be back in action for day two of the All-Atlantic Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Collegeville, PA, on Thursday, May 14, at 10:00 a.m.