UTICA, N.Y. — The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's indoor track & field team kicked off its 2025–26 season in impressive fashion at the Utica Holiday Classic, notching a collection of top-eight performances, including standout performances in sprints, hurdles, relays, and field events.

In the 200-meter dash, the Engineers packed the top of the results sheet with four scorers, with Ava Marcucci leading the group with a second-place finish in 26.55 seconds, followed closely by Alyssa Fici in third (26.57), Lauren Szalkowski in fourth (26.84), and Emma McGuinn in seventh (27.32).

McGuinn returned to action in the 60-meter hurdles, where she earned a runner-up finish in 9.09 seconds, just ahead of teammate Alice Brambati, who placed fourth in 9.25. In the 600-meter run, Laura Hoag crossed the line in third with a time of 1:43.51.

The relay teams continued RPI's momentum. In the 4x200-meter relay, the quartet of Alyssa Fici, Lauren Szalkowski, Emma McGuinn, and Ava Marcucci clocked a time of 1:46.76 to finish second. Later, the 4x400-meter relay team of Laura Hoag, Maeve Murphy, Lillybeth Kurosz, and Sonia Staroscik captured first place with a winning time of 4:24.19.

In field events, Ainsley Rausch earned second place in the pole vault by clearing 3.12 meters, while Brambati continued her strong day with a third-place finish in the long jump (5.30 meters) and a runner-up result in the triple jump (11.19 meters). Leanna Wells placed second in the shot put with a throw of 12.85 meters, while Katie Lynch added an eighth-place finish at 11.08 meters.