ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's swimming & diving team is off to a strong start and lead after the first day of the 14^th Annual Bomber Invitational, presented by The Hotel Ithaca. The Bombers are hosting the three-day meet inside Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium and have racked up 775 team points to lead six other institutions. They lead the University of Rochester (638.5), Smith College (334), Vassar (327), William Smith (212), Union (210.5) and Alfred University who totaled 158 team points.
 
Ithaca opened the night with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as the quartet of Elke Beaumont, Emma Kidd, Spencer Carroll, and Samantha Bender clocked 1:35.90 for the win. The 'Jackets "A" relay squad came home second touching with a time of 1:37.05 followed by Vassar who put together a time of 1:38.93.
 
Senior Naomi Fry captured the 500-yard freestyle title in 5:08.41, while junior Kathleen Papiernik dominated the 200-yard IM, winning in 2:07.68. In the 50-yard freestyle, Ithaca claimed the top spot with junior Samantha Bender touching first in 24.14, followed closely by teammates Beaumont and Carroll in third and fifth.
 
The Bombers capped the night with another relay victory, taking the 400-yard medley relay in 3:53.60 behind strong swims from Beaumont, Sydney Koehler, Elizabeth Bodie, and Bender.
 
On the boards, Ithaca shined in the 1-meter diving, placing four student-athletes in the top six. Sophomore Maya Hathorn led the way with 433.65 points for second place, followed by standout performances from Madison Morris (424.35), Emily Provost (418.45) and Eliza Salus (419.90).
 

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The invitational will resume at 9 a.m. on Friday with prelims in the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, "B and C" final of the 800-yard freestyle relay with the finals then taking place later in the evening at 6 p.m., along with the "A" final of the 800 freestyle relay. Diving will take place at 12:30 p.m. with the men competing on the 1-meter boards with the finals also taking place at 6 p.m. along with the 200-yard freestyle relay.