The New York University women's swimming and diving team headed uptown on Halloween evening for a dual meet against NCAA Division I Columbia University Lions.
The Violets put together a strong effort against their foes from Morningside Heights, ultimately falling 170-130 to the Lions.
"I was really happy with the way the women raced tonight, lots of fantastic early-season swims up and down the roster," said Swimming Head Coach Trevor Miele. "I loved how the women got up and raced and didn't back down. It would have been great to win the meet, but we battled right to the end and I'm proud of their performance and effort."
Friday's action opened with the three-meter dive, as Meera Kasturi (263.25), Isabella Reyes (249.75) and Katherine Taylor (243.68) took third, fourth and fifth places, respectively. Columbia's Chloe Leung placed first with a 282.15 score.
Kasturi took second in the final diving competition of the meet, scoring 264.68 in the one-meter dive. Taylor (246.53) and Reyes (226.43) finished fourth and fifth.
"We were a little better in the one-meter tonight against a tough Division I team," said Diving Head Coach Todd Kolean. "I thought Meera continued to be a force, but both Katherine and Isa are pushing her to get even better. Good Halloween night for NYU!"
The swimming portion kicked off with the 200 medley relay. NYU's "A" relay team of Nicole Ranile, Sammy Wong, Reina Gomez, and Maeve O'Donnell was just 75 milliseconds off the pace for second place, taking third with a 1:46.02 time. Columbia's "A" and "B" teams took first and second places, respectively.
NYU's Emery Muller took third in the 1000 freestyle race, with a 10:39.86 time. Alice Ciobanu earned fifth with an 11:00.82 finish.
Kaley McIntyre was the first Violet swimmer to emerge with an individual race win on Friday night, winning the 200 freestyle by nearly two seconds with a 1:50.69 time. Llew Ladomirak took third for NYU, finishing in 1:53.55.
Maeve O'Donnell won the second race of her freshman campaign in the 100 backstroke, besting Columbia's Shaelyn Shields by just 29 milliseconds with a 56.91 time. Eloise Emig (58.35) placed fourth and Sarah Pierson (59.21) placed sixth for the Violets.
McIntyre was also victorious in her first run of the season in the 50 freestyle, clocking in at 23.42. O'Donnell took third with her best time of the year, 23.96.
Kasturi took second in the final diving competition of the meet, scoring 264.68 in the one-meter dive. Taylor (246.53) and Reyes (226.43) finished fourth and fifth.
Emig later took second in the 200 backstroke, finishing just 0.33 seconds behind Columbia's Jilly MacNamara. Pierson took fifth in the event with a 2:06.67 time.
Babette Bradley brought home a third win for the Violets in the meet, taking first in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:22.74 time. Kate Steinmeier took fifth, finishing in 2:26.80.
In the final distance event of the night, the 500 freestyle, Bethany Spangler (5:10.34) and Muller (5:13.90) took third and fourth places. The Lions' Mia Avansino placed first.
Ranile (57.20) and Gomez (57.55) were neck and neck in the 100 butterfly, battling to the wall for second place behind Columbia's Ella Chan. NYU's Kinley Wigle (59.68) took fifth in the race.
Zeynep Tokuz took third in the 400 yard individual medley, finishing in 4:27.91, behind Columbia's Shields and Segerson.
The Violets closed out the night with a win in the 200 freestyle relay. Their "A" team of McIntyre, Lian Jeong Engle, Ladomirak and O'Donnell finished in 1:34.68, besting the Columbia "A" relay by 62 milliseconds.
The full Violets team returns to action for the NYU Fall Invitational, Nov. 7-8, at the Palladium Athletic Facility.
