Three individuals from the University of Rochester women's track and field team will have their indoor season continue at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship on March 13 & 14 at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama.
Juniors Nora Chen and Eva Ciuffetelli will compete in track events, while first-year Lauren Murphy will compete in field events (long and triple jump) at the national meet. Chen qualified in the 400 meters and the 60-meter hurdles, while Ciuffetelli will run in the 800 meters.
Chen will make her third straight appearance at indoor nationals during her third season on the River Campus. As a first-year, she ran on Rochester's national champion winning 4x400 meter relay at the NCAA meet. Last season, as a sophomore, she competed in two events, ranking 11th in the 400 meters and sixth as part of URochester's 4x400 meter relay.
She qualified for the nationals meet in the 400 meters by running a time of 56.45 seconds that was set in a winning performance at the Liberty League Indoor Championship a few weeks ago. That time converts to 55.71 seconds on the performance list, seeding Chen ninth in the field. Additionally, Chen's top 60 meter hurdle time this season was set this weekend at the AARTFC Championships. She ran an 8.73 second race at regionals, finishing sixth overall, breaking the Rochester school record in the process. During that event at NCAA's, she will enter as the 15th seed.
Ciuffetelli, a junior, makes her second straight NCAA appearance. She joined Chen on the 4x400 meter relay last season, ending sixth in her first nationals meet in what was her first season with the Yellowjackets program.
In 2026, Ciuffetelli competed in her first 800 meter indoor events and has excelled. She captured first place and had her best time of 2:11.07 at the AARTFC Indoor Championships this weekend. That mark earned her the regional title and booked her spot to NCAA's, where she will enter the competition as the eighth seeded runner.
Murphy is the Rochester record holder in both the long and triple jump in just her first season with the Yellowjackets. The first-year made the NCAA top-20 with an 11.97 meter leap in the triple jump and a top distance of 5.77 meters in the long jump. Murphy's triple jump mark came back in her first collegiate meet at the Nazareth Alumni Opener, while her long jump top distance was achieved at the Liberty League Indoor Championships in late February.
The Yellowjacket rookie becomes just the second women's athlete in team history to compete at nationals both the long and triple jump at the same meet. Jessica Lyon accomplished that feat back in 1990. Murphy will be seeded sixth in the triple jump and 14th in the long jump.
Chen gets things started for the trio in the meet, running in the 60 meter hurdle preliminary heats at 1:30 pm on Friday, March 13th. Later on, she runs in the 400 meter prelims at 3:05 pm. Murphy then competes in the long jump at 3:30 pm, just before Ciuffetelli hits the track during the opening heats in the 800 meters at 3:45 pm.
On day two, should she qualify, Chen kicks off the competition in the hurdles final heat at 10:30 am. Murphy's triple jump competition starts at 2 pm. The 400 meter final is later on at 4:25 pm, while the 800 meter championship race is set for 4:50 pm on the track.
At NCAAs, the top-20 declared athletes on the Division III performance list qualify, with the top-16 finishers earning All-America status. The top-eight scorers will be First Team All-Americans, while 9th through 16th receive Second Team accolades.
Fans can follow the action with live video at
NCAA.com and live results at
https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=8657.