PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Columbia women's swimming wrapped up its first full day of action at the Rutgers Invite on Thursday evening, combining for seven top-five finishes on the night. As a team, the Lions are in second with 680 points behind host-team Rutgers (744.5).
 
"We had a great first full day," said Columbia head coach Diana Caskey. "We posted good swims in prelims and them improved on them in finals. Bodes well for the remainder of the competition."
 
To open up the evening, the Lions earned a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle as senior Mary Ashby, sophomore Jessica He, sophomore Susie Zhu and first-year Clare Larsen combined for a time of 1:33.07.
 
In the first individual event of the meet, first-year Mary Pruden led the way in the 500 free, coming into the wall third overall with a season-best time of 4:58.59. Junior Clare MacNamara followed closely behind, turning in a fourth-place time of 4:59.55, which improved upon her prelims time by more than two full seconds.
 
Junior Helen Wojdylo continued to shine, finishing second overall in the 200 IM at 2:02.68. In prelims, she posted the fastest time of the morning session with a personal-best time of 2:02.17. Senior Jessica Antiles won the consolation final in the event with a time of 2:04.53 to place seventh overall.
 
Columbia record-holder in the event, senior Mary Ashby was the Lions' top finisher in the 50 free, coming in third with a time of 23.16. Jessica He also qualified for the 'A' final in the event, recording an eighth-place showing at 23.72.
 
Wrapping up the night, the Lions handed in fourth- and fifth-place performances in the 400 medley relay. The squad of junior Julia Samson, Wojdylo, sophomore Emily Wang and He led the way in 3:45.11.
The Lions will be back in action for day three on Friday, with Columbia's divers hitting the pool for the first time. Friday will be jam-packed with competition, including the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter and 1-meter diving and the 200 medley relay. Swimming prelims begin promptly at 10 a.m. ET, diving will kick off at 1 p.m. and finals will follow at 6 p.m.
 
For the latest on the Columbia women's swimming and diving program, follow @CULadySwim on Twitter and Instagram, @ColumbiaDiving on Instagram and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.