New York University's
eighth-ranked women's and
ninth-ranked men's swimming and diving teams competed against Stevens Institute of Technology and Drew University on the first day of the NYU Fall Invitational on Friday at the Palladium Natatorium in Manhattan.
The Violets racked up 172 points for the women and 160 for the men to sit comfortably as the top seed heading into tomorrow's sessions.
NYU's diving teams kicked off the meet at 2:00 p.m., competing against each other since Stevens and Drew did not send divers.
Meera Kasturi finished first out of five Violets in the one-meter with a score of 266.03. She was followed by
Katherine Nardone (260.85) and
Issara Schmidt (245.25) in second and third place, respectively.
On the men's side,
Hunter Whitbeck took first place, recording a score of 280.43.
Jack Callaghan finished second with 273.83 and
Makai Harder trailed Callaghan by just over four points.
"It was great to see freshman Meera win in her first meet and make a regional qualifying score," Diving Head Coach
Todd Kolean said. "Both seniors Hunter and Jack had a great first meet and the underclassmen are pretty much where we need them to be right now."
The swimming session began at 5:00 p.m. Standout performances included
Caitlin Marshall's 500 freestyle win in a time of 5:04.20. In the men's 500,
Thomas Pritchard just managed to edge out
Connor Vincent, taking first in 4:39.51, only 0.31 seconds ahead of Vincent.
In the 200 individual medley,
Candice Saxod (2:09.76) and
Jaeden-Hans Yburan (1:55.40) placed first for NYU in their respective races.
The Violets secured yet another double victory in the 50 freestyle with
Kaley McIntyre and
Ajay Watanakun dominating their fields in 24.09 and 20.78, respectively. Both finished at least 0.80 seconds ahead of second place.
"With a mid-season meet, it's hard for the swimmers to go lifetime bests. With the training they're doing, they're right where they should be," Assistant Coach
Miranda Johns, who works with the sprinters, said. "I'm thankful there weren't any surprises."
"Overall, we had a fantastic start to the meet. I'm looking forward to their first time with back-to-back days of racing this season," Head Coach
Trevor Miele added. "They have been training well this year and I expect they will finish out the meet strong."
The Violets will finish off the second half of the meet tomorrow, November 5, back at the Palladium Natatorium. The swimmers compete in two sessions, one at 10:00 a.m. and the second at 4:00 p.m. The divers will complete their competition in a 2:00 p.m. session.
