WORCESTER, Mass. – Action at the Gompei Invitational at WPI got underway Friday night with the Bentley University swim teams turning in strong efforts in the 800 yard free relays.

The men's team placed third, behind teams from Rowan University and Stevens Institute of Technology, with their time of 6:59.98 only about six seconds off the school record. Freshman Jarod Yoshihara (Irvine, Calif./University HS) swam the opening leg and was followed into the pool by junior Aidan Karam (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy), sophomore Ryan McGeary (Paramus, N.J./Bergen Catholic HS) and senior Davis Wilson (Ransom Canyon, Texas/Lubbock HS).

On the women's side, Bentley finished fourth in 7:45.95, the second fastest time in program history, while trailing two teams from Division I Bryant University and one from Stevens Tech. Sophomores Brooke Jameson (Bedford/Bedford HS) and Kate Kaduboski (Dedham/Dedham HS) were the first two Falcons into the pool with junior Emily Niemiec (Meriden, Conn./Francis T. Mahoney HS) and senior Kaitlin McGahie (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) closing.

In the grueling 1650 freestyle, Bentley freshman Daniel Sausto (Slingerlands, N.Y./The Doane Stuart School) shattered the school record while finishing third overall in 16:23.45. Karam owned the previous record of 16:35.11, set at the 2015 Northeast-10 Championships.  In the process, he also broke Karam's record for the 1,000.

On the women's side, sophomore Melissa Viator (Lubbock, Texas/Lubbock HS) was seventh, finishing in 17:57.24.

Bentley also picked up a fourth-place finish in the men's synchronized diving relay.

Heading into Saturday's second day of competition, Bentley is fifth among 13 points in the combined men's and women's standings with 455 points. WPI tops the standings with 746, and the top four also includes Bryant, Rowan and Stevens.