The #3-ranked New York University women's swimming and diving team headed uptown on Halloween eve, October 30, for a dual meet against the Division I Columbia University Lions at Percy Uris Natatorium in Morningside Heights, Manhattan.
Despite a competitive meet, Columbia walked away the victors, finishing with a score of 180-115.
"Columbia swam really well tonight and deserved the win. I was proud of the way we competed, though," said Head Swim Coach Trevor Miele. "Reina had a great 200 fly, and our women's 200 free relay was outstanding. For this point in the season, we're right where we want to be, and the energy on the deck was fantastic."
The evening opened with the 3-meter dive, with Maya Williams (272.33) and Sanayia Joefield taking second and fourth place, respectively. In the 1-meter diving competition, Williams finished with a 258.83 finals score, setting her in 4th place. Joefield (222.90) took 6th place, followed by Amy Nam (210.53) and Kripa Rao (194.78), who took 7th and 8th place, respectively.
"Maya Williams continues her work from last year as a senior. She made her second regional scores. We were better on 3-meter than 1-meter, which makes us happy," said Head Diving Coach Todd Kolean.
In the 200-yard medley relay, NYU's "A" relay (Mischa Eng, Thi Tran, Maeve O'Donnell, Lian Jeong Engle) came in second place with a time of 1:46:07, just a few seconds behind Columbia's "A" team (1:44.23).
The Violets scored 3-4-6-7 in the 400-yard IM, led by Bethany Spangler (4:36.13). Babette Bradley (4:36.23), Ella Romberg (4:41.96), and Calista Lynch (4:45.02) followed behind. Maeve O'Donnell finished second (56.85) in a close race during the 100-yard backstroke, just .78 seconds behind Columbia's Romy Kirby. Mischa Eng, Sarah Pierson, and Eloise Emig took 3rd, 4th, and 6th places, respectively.
Violet Reina Gomez took NYU's first win of the meet, with a time of 2:05.74 in the 200-yard butterfly event. Newcomer Sydney Burleigh (2:07.57) took second.
NYU swept the 200-yard IM shortly thereafter. Thi Tran (2:11.49) won her first race as a Violet, followed by Zeynep Tokuz (2:11.66), Ella Romberg (2:12.80), and Sophie Cox (2:16.21) in second, third, and fourth, respectively.
The Violets rounded out the night with a win in the final relay, with NYU's "A" team (Chloe Loo, Llew Ladomirak, Jeong Engle, O'Donnell) finishing in first place (1:34.32), followed by their "B" team (1:39.05), "C" team (1:40.72), and "D" team (1:43.00).
The team will return to the pool on Friday, November 6, as they host the NYU Invitational at Palladium Athletics Facility at 5:00 PM.
