The New York University men's swimming and diving team returned to friendly waters at the Palladium Athletic Facility on Friday night, hosting the first session of the NYU Fall Invitational.

The meet is being contested over two days, featuring the Violet swimmers and divers alongside opponents Drew University, Stevens Institute of Technology and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).

After five races and the three-meter dive, the Violets lead the field with 160 points - ahead of Stevens (91), Drew (88), and TCNJ (11 - diving only).

"We saw big swims from our guys in the 500 and the 200 IM and I really liked the way we closed the session with the medley relay," said Swimming Head Coach Trevor Miele. "There were a lot of great swims tonight — the guys showed energy and raced well. I'm looking forward to seeing them back in the pool tomorrow morning." 

The divers opened the session on Friday evening, with the men's divers battling in the three-meter competition.

Nolan Jennings led the field with a 285.70 score with teammate and captain Makai Harder just behind in second place with  255.20.

"Nolan and Makai went 1-2, competing some of their harder dives," said Diving Head Coach Todd Kolean. "It was a close call, but Nolan was able to make his first NCAA Regional-qualifying score." 

The swimming action opened with the 200-yard freestyle relay, contested over two heats. The Violets' "A" team of Greg Wehbe, Stone Miller, Teddy McQuaid and Derek Young led the nine-team field with a 1:24.84 time. NYU's "B" team (Bryan Manheimer, Daniel Gustin, Hector Mu, Sean Li) took second with a 1:25.32 finish.

In the lone distance race of the night, Evan Jue posted the top time in the 500 freestyle, 4:39.17, just ahead of Adam Mekrami, finishing in 4:40.45. Misha Kabunov (4:44.99) rounded out the podium.

The Violets posted the top three finishes in the 200 individual medley, led by Maksym Nechydyuk (1:52.23). Sebastian Wenger (1:57.31) and Conner Dean (1:58.29) were neck-and-neck for second and third places.

The final individual race of the evening was the 50 freestyle. Miller was the top Violet in the field of 23, taking second with a 21.45 time. He was just one one-hundredth of a second behind Drew's Nicholas Heinio-Widell in first.

NYU finished the night with the top three finishers in the 400 medley relay. The Violets' "A" team (McQuaid, Nechydyuk, Derek Young, Wehbe) led the way with a 3:27.12 time. The "B" team (Hodge Dauler, Youngsoo Ahn-Song, Wenger, Kabunov) took second in 3:30.25, with the the "D" team (Oliver Engel, Cormac Ryan, Jacob Lee, Li) taking third in 3:30.52.

The invitational continues Saturday with two sessions, beginning at 10:00 a.m.