The New York University women's swimming and diving team returned home to 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 one-meter dive, the Violets lead the field with 172 points - ahead of Stevens (99), Drew (48), and TCNJ (14 - diving only).

"Our women came in prepared and locked in from the first relay. The depth across events was excellent, and we saw some really impressive swims tonight," said Swimming Head Coach Trevor Miele. "It was a strong start to the meet, and I'm excited to see them compete back-to-back for the first time on Saturday."

The divers opened the session on Friday evening, with the women's divers battling in the one-meter competition.
Meera Kasturi led the field with a 324.35 score, with teammates Isabella Reyes (301.15) and Katherine Taylor (284.65) filling out the top three places.

"It was nice to be home at Palladium and the divers showed up," said Diving Head Coach Todd Kolean. "Meera continued her great year, just missing the team record, while Isabella broke 300 and Katherine got her second NCAA qualifying score."

The swimming action opened with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Violets' "A" team of Kaley McIntyre, Lian Jeong Engle, Calista Lynch and Llew Ladomirak led the eight-team field with a 1:37.37 time. NYU's "B" team (Reina Gomez, Sarah Pierson, Molly Sleman, Andrea Wu) took second with a 1:38.00 finish.

In the lone distance race of the night, Emery Muller posted the top time in the 500 freestyle, 5:06.19, just ahead of Bethany Spangler, finishing in 5:10.00. Aanya Wala (5:11.87) rounded out the podium.

The Violets posted the top three finishes in the 200 individual medley, led by Babette Bradley (2:09.31). Zeynep Tokuz (2:09.88) and Ella Romberg (2:10.07) were close for second and third places.

The final individual race of the evening was the 50 freestyle. McIntyre led the field of 18 swimmers, taking first with a 23.54 time. Jeong Engle (23.93) and Ladomirak (24.14) battled for the final two podium spots.

NYU finished the night with the top three finishers in the 400 medley relay. The Violets' "A" team (Maeve O'Donnell, Bradley, Nicole Ranile, McIntyre) led the way with a 3:50.54 time. The "B" team (Eloise Emig, Sammy Wong, Gomez, Engle Jeong) took second in 3:52.65, with the "C" team (Pierson, Katherine Steinmeier, Wu, Muller) taking third in 3:59.69.

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